Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - MYRTLE BEACH CO-ED, 23, FOUND DEAD UNDER OVERPASS, CAR STILL RUNNING: WHAT HAPPEN TO AMBER ?

Episode Date: October 15, 2024

While studying abroad in London, Amber Berbiglia meets Jose Tolsar and returns home in love. After two years of dating, they plan to marry just weeks after her college graduation. One Friday afternoon, Amber leaves her apartment to pay bills and run errands. She stops to refuel at Murphy Gas in North Charleston. Amber texts on her phone until 2:30 p.m. and is scheduled to start work at 4 p.m., but she never shows up. A co-worker calls to check on her, but the call goes straight to voicemail. Later that Friday, a 911 call reports an injured person near a car on Old Sanders Road, under the Robert Edge Parkway overpass in North Myrtle Beach. Police respond quickly, finding a woman lying next to her running car with no witnesses in sight. A cell phone, inches from her hand, is actively ringing with missed calls, texts, and emails. First responders find the woman with severe facial injuries that initially make it appear she had been shot. She had already died by the time help arrived, and no witnesses were present to explain what had happened. Investigators discover the woman’s purse inside the car with cash still intact, ruling out robbery as a motive. The victim is identified as Amber Berbiglia  Joining Nancy Grace Today: Amanda Berbiglia - Sister of Amber Berbiglia Karen Ritchie - Best Friend of Amber Barry Hutchinson Sr. -  Former 26 year law enforcement veteran and detective, owner & Chief Investigator for Barry & Associates Investigative Services located in Kansas & Missouri  Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth) and Lecturer: University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School Alexis Tereszchuk  -  CrimeOnline Investigative Reporter   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous young Myrtle Beach co-ed just 23 years old found dead under an overpass, her car still running. What happened to Amber? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. A young South Carolina woman runs errands on her way to work. She stops to pay her cable bill, gets gas, but never makes it to work. She's absolutely stunning and was just days away from graduating from college. What happened to Amber? This is how it all starts. Listen. The Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina gets very busy on the weekends and at around 4 30 p.m. on a Friday a call comes in to 911. The caller says there

appears to be an injured person outside of a car on Old Sanders Road under the Robert Edge Parkway overpass in North Myrtle Beach. Officers arrive quickly and find the woman lying next to her still running car and no witnesses. The woman has a cell phone inches away from her fingertips that is actively beeping with missed calls, texts, and email messages. With all that evidence, it seems so hard to comprehend. We still don't's answers as to what happened to this gorgeous young co-ed. Joining me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now, including Amber's mother, her sister, and her very best friend. I want to go straight out first to Amber's mother, Michelle Robinson.

When did you learn that Amber had passed away? I had just gotten home from work, and bang, bang, bang on my door. And my cousin had me knocking at my door, banging at my door like that. I said, who the hell would be knocking at my door like that? I said, who? Who? So I cracked the door open a little bit and barged away in. He said, we're investigating the homicide of Amber Babilia. I said, homicide went over my head.

I said, Amber, where is she? Where is she? One of them said, she's been shot. I'm like, what? And she grabbed my arm. Is she right? He said, no. I wanted to fall back.

And he grabbed me and he said, no, I can't. And he said, help, I can't. And he said, it's been a nightmare. Asking me questions. I couldn't think straight. I needed to call my mother. My mom was on her way to Pennsylvania. I said, Mom, the officer took the phone. I couldn't dial.

It was a nightmare since. Also with Ms. Robinson is Amber's sister, Amanda. Amanda, when did you learn that your sister, she's absolutely beautiful and so much ahead of her in life. When did you learn that she had been killed? I was at work. I had gotten a few phone calls throughout the night. I was waitressing at the time and it was a busy Friday night and I didn't answer my phone. So at the end of my shift, I finally picked up my phone and it was my uncle and told me that she had been shot and I didn't think I didn't think it was possible other than you know like maybe she was in the hospital so I was just like well where is she

how is she doing and and he just said I'm sorry, honey, she's gone? It was not comprehensible. I just kind of like fell to the ground. There were still customers in the restaurant and nobody knew what was going on. And my co-workers just kind of picked me up and helped me out the back door and, you know, trying to figure out what was happening. And I just, you know, blurted it out. My sister was shot. She's dead. And, you know, they just helped me pull myself together and get home and get to my dad. And it's like my mother said, it's been a nightmare ever since. When you first learned, Amanda, that Amber had been shot, in your mind, what did you think had happened? I had no idea.

You know, there were so many different things that could have, you know, were going through my mind. I just quick got home and, you know, packed my stuff and headed down to South Carolina to try to figure out and to make sense of any any bit of that. Also joining us in addition to Amber's mother and sister her best friend Karen Ritchie. Karen describe for us when you learned Amber had been killed. Someone at the scene, recognized Amber and called my manager at overtime and told him. And they called me in the office and told me it was unbelievable. And that's what they said in the beginning. And, you know, your head just spins because in the human world, you can't do something like that.

It took me a few minutes to get it together to be able to drive home and it's just been unbelievable ever since because it's just like one dead end after another Karen Ritchie is joining us Amanda Berbelia and Michelle Robinson let me Karen, when you were first told that Amber had been killed, what did you believe happened in your heart of hearts? When I was first told my fiance was dead, I thought there had been some horrible car crash, some accident. That's what I thought. Then I found out he had been shot and I couldn't even imagine a scenario under which that would happen. Neither one of us owned a gun. Nobody had a gun in their home. So how was he shot? But I was in such shock. I didn't think it through. When you first heard this news that Amber had been shot, what did you think happened? And I have a reason for asking.

Go ahead. Well, you know, like something random or possibly a robbery or something to that effect. I mean, it just didn't make any sense. She didn't hurt anybody. It didn't make any sense that anybody would hurt her. She was the most caring, giving person. She had such a spirit and an aura. I just couldn't wrap my head around that anybody would want to hurt her for any reason. Just days away from graduating college, her life cut down, found underneath an overpass, her car still

running, her fingertips near her cell phone, which was buzzing, buzzing off the chart. What more do we know? Listen. First responders find a female victim lying outside her still running car. Injuries to her face are so severe at first glance it appears she has been shot in the face. The woman has died before help arrives and no witnesses are around to provide any context for what has taken place. Investigators find the victim's purse inside the car with money still in it and rule out robbery as a motive. They also find the victim's identification, Amber Berbilia. Joining us in addition to Amber Berbilia's family, Michelle Robinson, Amanda Berbilia, her sister and best friend Karen Ritchie, Barry Hutchinson Sr. now joining us. 26 years in law enforcement,

veteran detective, now chief investigator with Barry and Associates. Barry Hutchinson, thank you for being with us. Well, immediately police rule out robbery because her purse, her pocketbook is still there. Her cell phone is still there. There's money in the purse. So it's not robbery. We also see that she's outside of the car. So it's not a random drive-by shooting. She's outside the car. What do you think? I think it was somebody that she was familiar with. I think it was a crime of opportunity. My first instinct is telling me that it's probably somebody that had romantic interest in her, but they weren't reciprocated, and I think it was a crime of passion from that standpoint. What more can we deduce from the scene? Listen. Horry County Police Detective Jonathan Martin says Amber Vabilia's body is found along

Old Sanders Road under the Robert Edge Parkway overpass. There are no witnesses on scene. Although the injuries to her face appeared to be gunshot wounds, the coroner reveals that Amber Berbilio wasn't shot as previously thought. She was beaten to death and cause of death is blunt force trauma. So when responders first get there, they believe that Amber has been shot. But then they realize she was beaten so badly, she appeared to have been shot in the face. Also joining us, a renowned chief medical examiner out of Tarrant County, that's Fort Worth, and esteemed lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, Dr. Kendall Crowns. Dr. Crowns, thank you for being with us.

Explain to me in medical terms what that means. So sometimes blunt force injuries can be confused with gunshot wounds because the natures of wounds on the head can look like a gunshot wound injury. You can get these kind of stellate tears or star-shaped tears that can look like entrance wounds from gunshots, but instead are from blunt force injuries, especially if they've used a weapon or a rock or a hammer. It can leave these type of stellate wounds or star-shaped wounds. The other thing is, is often with blunt force trauma, there can be so much deformation or damage to the head that it can look like a gunshot wound, which also causes a significant trauma to the head as well. So you're telling me a person can be beaten so badly that it actually resembles a gunshot wound?

Yes, they can be beaten so badly that the destruction that happens to the head and the skull can have the appearance of the massive trauma caused by a gunshot wound. Do we know what time of the day or night she was attacked? Let me go out to Karen Ritchie or Amanda Berbilia. Let me go to you, Amanda. Do we know what time of the day or night that this occurred? It was around, I think, three or four in the afternoon. It was broad daylight. My understanding, it was closer to 4 p.m. in the afternoon. And when you say broad daylight, that's very significant. Because to Barry Hutchinson Sr., joining us, again, 26 years in law enforcement, this person that attacked her was so bold. And there's no way this can be deemed self-inflicted because it's not a gunshot wound. It's blunt force trauma,

so severe her skull was fractured. I just wanted to make sure I understood the time of the attack. This person is brazen to commit a crime like this. It's not just a drive-by shooting. Wham, bam, you're done. She has to get out of the car, and then she's beaten, beaten horribly around the face to the point she dies, her skull fractured, and nobody sees a thing? Yeah, Nancy, it just doesn't make sense. And to me, it has all the hallmarks of something to where there's so much passion involved in the crime itself, so much pain and injury that was inflicted, that to me, it just really stands out as somebody that knew her and she was there for a very specific reason. Maybe that person was following her and she pulled off the road because she saw them. You know, we don't know.

I mean, the case, it's pretty much hush hush with the Horry County police. They're not discussing it in any regard whatsoever. But to me, it has a lot of key indicators as somebody that she was familiar with. And again, I think because of all the passion involved in the crime, that it was probably, I'm really leaning towards somebody that, for lack of better words, that she jilted, that wanted a relationship with her, but she just did not reciprocate. She was very happy with the person she was with,

had plans on getting married. And I think this was kind of a confrontation by that person as a last-ditch effort to say, hey, why not me instead of this guy? And then when she didn't go with it, I think that passion just overcame that person, and the young lady lost her life. A beautiful young woman found beaten to death lying next to her running car under a freeway overpass. Who could do this? Amber Berbilia is originally from New York, but calls South Carolina home now. She is a college student at Horry Georgetown Technical College with designs on becoming a costume designer.

Studying abroad in London for part of her education, she meets Jose Tulsar and comes back home in love. After two years of dating, Amber and Jose make plans to marry weeks after she graduates from college, and that time is fast approaching. That casts some light on the theory a, quote, jilted lover or boyfriend killed her.

If she had been involved in that relationship for two years and very happy, it's highly unlikely that there was another guy on the side. We don't have any information about that. No, there's no information that there was anybody on the side. I don't think she would have had anybody, but she was she had a lot of friends and it could have been somebody that she had a friendship with that just really wanted more than that. And she just wouldn't reciprocate. Now, thinking all of this through, let me figure out, can either of you three ladies, her mom, her sister or best friend, enlighten me on her love interest, her relationship, her fiance?

They were a few weeks away from getting married. She was very happy with Jose. She was very excited to get married and start her future. She was moving to London, and I mean, she was just so happy they were smitten they were a perfect fairy tale love story to Michelle Robinson this is Amber really his mom Michelle what was she doing for a living until she moved back to London where was she working? She was working at Australian Grill, which is a very high-class restaurant, serving, and she was going to school at the same time. Here's a picture of me and her mother, grandmother, went and picked out wedding dresses just weeks before. I do not believe it was

someone that had passion for her. I believe it was a stranger because if they knew Amber, they would not kill her. She lit up a room.

She was happy all the time. If someone had something against her, they would have told her that. I don't think it was someone she knew. That's my belief. Let's analyze what Michelle Robinson is saying. Join me now, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Alexis Tereszczuk. Alexis, thank you for being with us tonight. I'm trying to analyze what I've just heard. Now, you and I, Alexis, have handled a lot of homicide cases together. And one thing I've always been puzzled with is that it seems sometimes like the very best, the sweetest people end up being homicide victims and even at random victims.

So while I understand what mom is saying, that's not always true because a person is wonderful and loving and innocent and lights up a room that does not protect them from predators. Another thing, Alexis Tereshak, any light you could shed on this. Many people, including the mom, Michelle Robinson, believe that this was stranger on stranger for a robbery. But think it through. And I'm going to go back to you on this, Barry Hutchinson Sr.

If you want money, you want to rob somebody, is following a woman in a car in broad daylight, dragging her out of the car and beating her in the face, then you don't take the pocketbook with the money in it.

That's just like the John Bonet Ramsey case, where somebody said, when they decide a kidnapper breaks in at Christmas and leaves the ransom note for $118,000 and said, oh, hey, you know what, I've come this far, but never mind, I'm just going to kill her and leave her here. That doesn't make sense. So if you're going to commit a robbery, why don't you mug somebody in a dark alley? Why don't you grab somebody's pocketbook in the mall parking lot when their arms are full of bags or the grocery lot or the parking deck outside of Target? Why chase down a car, get the woman out of the car, beat her in the face, fracture her skull.

It's a vicious beating, okay, to her face. That's full of all sorts of psychological implications. And then you don't take the pocketbook. You don't take the purse or the money. That doesn't make sense. Alexis, what facts can you shed on this? Well, also, there not a weapon found as far as the police have said at the crime scene. So we don't know if she was hit with the person's fist or if they had another weapon, but they did not take the money. So you think maybe something went wrong. Maybe she owed somebody money for some reason. They felt they followed her. They said to get the money back, but they left the purse. And again, it is broad daylight. While this isn't a

heavily trafficked area, as you can see from the photos, it is still a public location where she was just found. Literally her car was running. So she was very surprised when this happened and they left. No, they didn't take anything. So if she was, let's just say she owed somebody some money, she was going to meet them with the money. Something happened, she didn't give it to them. They didn't take the money. They didn't take anything. And they didn't take her cell phone either.

Alexis Tereschuk, I specifically asked if you could shed light on the facts, not come up with a wild hypothesis. Are you actually saying you have any facts to support she owed anyone money or you're just guessing? I am just guessing, but I'm saying that if she did owe somebody money, they didn't take it when it was found in her wallet. No facts support that. As a matter of fact, facts support the exact opposite. Listen. Amber Berbillia's mother, Michelle, says the murder simply happened to the wrong person, saying, quote, Amber was a social butterfly. She had friends from school. She had friends from work. She put herself through school. Her mother says she was looking through some of Amber's bills and papers and finds her daughter doesn't owe anything to anybody. All of her bills were up to date and she paid off all of her student loans. The 23-year-old hit in the face twice with a blunt object so hard that investigators believed she was shot.

What more do we know about the scene that can shed light on her murder? Listen. Investigation into the murder of Amber Berbilia is difficult from the first hours. There are no witnesses to describe hearing or seeing anything. There was no robbery as her phone, keys, and wallet were left untouched. The keys are still in the ignition and the car is running, but the suspect doesn't use the car to get away from the scene. It sounds to me like a crime of opportunity. Now Alexis Tereschuk, I just attacked you about your claim that this young girl about to graduate college heading to London to become a costume designer a few weeks away from the wedding to the man of her dreams. They're moving together that she owed somebody money. She even, she's one of the few in

the country, along with me, that paid off all her student loans. This woman did not owe money. What I was expecting you to describe, Alexis Tereschuk, is video surveillance. What can you tell me about video surveillance of Amber just before her death? So first she's seen paying her cable bill. That is on video. The video has not been released by the police. After that, she goes to the gas station. That video has been released. She's wearing black pants, leopard print shirt.

She has cute little glasses on. Then, so the police took the video. They went all up and down this highway and they found video of her car. And in it, she's by herself she's driving her car she turns a corner they lose sight of her for about half an hour half an hour later her car comes back around she is driving there appears to be a passenger in the seat from the video what we've what has been described is that this passenger appeared to be a dark

person it may have been a black man in the car with her. This is what was seen. And then we don't see them again. And mere minutes later, within an hour or so, she is murdered on the side of the road. But there is no evidence of this person at the crime scene that we have seen. Okay, let me understand something, Alexis Tereschuk. She goes off video cam, okay? And what kind of video was it? Was it a store? Was it a red light? Do we know what kind of video cam it was?

We do not know what kind. I think it was, they said they searched on the highway, so it might have been one of the interstate video cameras. Yeah, yeah, okay. It sees her turn off the roadway onto a side street. She's alone. When she comes back onto the roadway from that side street, there is, we believe to be a male in the car with her in the front seat, correct?

Correct. He appears to be a black male from the video. Amanda, what have you been told about the video? Exactly what she just said. Just that they have video of her on the street stopping to pay her cable bill. And then she goes onto a side street and comes back. But I don't know. And that there was somebody in the car with her when she comes back onto the highway.

But I don't know what street or the area. I'm not familiar with the area. We understand that the cameras were those installed along the roadway, Alexis Torres. Chuck, you're right about that. Michelle Robinson, Amber's mom, were you ever told what is down the street, or did you investigate what was down the street? Why she went there? Yes, and I saw that video. And to me, it was a shadow.

It was not a person. I went to the police station and it did not appear to be a black person or anybody. It was just a shadow, maybe an arm, not even visible to be an arm. They're saying that it was a black person, maybe. To me, it looked like just a shadow, no clear indication of a person. Is law enforcement telling you they believe it's a person? Yes. Okay, so they believe it's a person, you believe it's a shadow, correct? Yes. And how quickly, after seeing what they believe is a person in the car with her, is she killed? Within half hour. What do we know about defensive wounds? Listen. The mother of Amber Berbillia, Michelle Robinson, says her daughter was hit with something in the head twice, causing two skull fractures. She also says Amber did not go down without a fight.

According to Robinson, the funeral home suggests putting on a long-sleeved dress for visitation to cover up the bruises and cuts on her arms. According to her mother, Amber Berbilia put up a good fight. To Dr. Kendall Crowns joining us out of Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Crowns, I want to understand something. We earlier heard that we've learned she had a skull fracture, two in fact. Could a skull fracture result from a blow from a fist or would it have to be a blunt object? So your skull can fracture from a punch depending on how much force is put behind the punch where you're hitting your face. The bones of the skull in these areas are easily fractured but But from a punch, you can break the nose, you can break the orbital rims.

But the type of injuries that are being described to me sounds more like a heavy, blunt object, like a pipe or a hammer, because you're not going to see the extensive injuries that looks like a gunshot wound, unless it's something that you can put a lot of force behind causing major fractures of the skull. This is where I'm going, Dr. Kendall Crowns, and I want to follow up with you about how many veins, how venous the face is that would produce a lot of bleeding to resemble a gunshot wound. But we're talking about potential fractures. We're talking about whether a weapon was used. She was off camera, Dr. Kendall Crowns, for about 30 minutes. The highway cam,

what we've learned was the highway cam sees her going down the highway, the roadway. She turns off into the side street, Dr. Kendall Crowns. She's not seen for 30 minutes. When she comes back on camera, Dr. Crowns, according to law enforcement, there is a male sitting in her front seat. Within an hour, she's dead. I'm trying to figure out, was a weapon used? And if so, what weapon? It seems to me that's the guy we need to be looking for. Now, Dr. Kendall crowns two fractures to the skull. If the fractures were, can a skull fracture be to the front of the face or does it have to be, say, from the eyebrows back?

What would the nose, the mouth, the cheeks, would that be the skull? Is that considered the skull? So, yeah, again, the skull can be any portion of this could be a skull fracture. So facial skull here, nose, cheek, side of head where your ear would be can also be considered a skull fracture. So any of that can be considered a skull fracture in the description. Okay. Dr. Kendall-Crowns, it looked like a gunshot wound. It was that bad.

Would there be more bleeding if the attack was to the venous area in the mouth and the nose and the eyes? They bleed so profusely. So your head actually has a lot of vascularity to it. Your nose, your face, even your scalp has a tremendous amount of vasculature. So anytime there's injuries to the facial or head area, there is always going to be a lot of bleeding. It doesn't care. It doesn't matter what exactly the area is. It just, if it's part of the head, it'll bleed quite profusely. Horry County Police Detective Jonathan Martin says Amber Vabilia's body is found along Old Sanders Road under the Robert Edge Parkway overpass. There are no witnesses on scene. Although the injuries to her face appeared to be gunshot wounds, the coroner reveals that Amber Verbilia wasn't shot as previously thought.

She was beaten to death and cause of death is blunt force trauma. First responders find a female victim laying outside her still running car. Injuries to her face are so severe at first glance it appears she has been shot in the face. The woman has died before help arrives and no witnesses are around to provide any context for what has taken place investigators find the victim's purse inside the car with money still in it and rule out robbery as a motive they also find the victim's identification amber barbilia hey mom i just wanted to call and tell you I love you. Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you. I love you. Good night.

A mother cherishes the last voicemail from her daughter. Alexis Tereschuk, if L.E., law enforcement, is correct, that could very well be her killer caught on video. So I'm trying to learn more about that. Alexis, was the car fully processed for DNA and fingerprints? The police have said that they've investigated all of it. They have never released a suspect's name. They've never released any information saying they're looking for a suspect they and even so they could run this through if there was DNA

anywhere found they could run it through one of the genealogy sites and maybe get a match on somebody else but they have they have never released any information about that back to dr. Kendall crowns I'm still on the skull fracture and the reason I'm asking dr. crowns is I'm trying to determine if you or someone like you, another medical examiner, would be able to tell if she was beaten with, let's just say, was she pistol whipped? Was she attacked with a pipe? If we could figure out from her injuries, what was the murder weapon? What was the type of murder weapon? A hammer, for peace sake, like Dr. Teresa Sievert. You can look at the wound sometimes and you can determine

what type of weapon was used. Isn't that true? That's correct. So with blunt force injuries, there can be patterns that are left by the weapon. Pipes can leave like what we call tram track. Try bruising where you see bruising on either side of the wound. Hammers actually leave kind of circular or kind of almost Mercedes Benz type symbol. Lesions as well that can be mistaken for gunshot wounds. It just depends what the object is, but it can leave pattern injuries. But a fist doesn't usually, but other objects can. So you can get kind of an impression of it based on what the wounds look like. If this was not to the nose or the facial area and it left skull fractures, this was not done with a fist.

That tells me the person that got in her car, the man in her car, had some sort of a weapon. Was it a pipe? Was it a hammer? Was it a gun used to pistol whip her? I don't know. But I do believe Barry Hutchinson, Sr., joining me, private eye chief investigator for Barry and Associates Investigative Services in Kansas and Missouri. Barry, we say that, you know, statistics teach us you look first at those closest to her, and that would be the fiancé. It's not the fiancé.

I've already investigated it myself. He's ruled out. He has a rock-solid alibi. He was in Europe at the time. No question. It's not him. But I'm very interested in your theory about a romantic interest. He was in Europe at the time. No question. It's not him. But I'm very interested in your theory about a romantic interest. She worked, as her mom just told us, at a very high-end restaurant.

Who was watching her? Who was sitting at the bar watching her every move? Who could have been obsessed with her? Because, Barry, I'm very torn right now. Did she give some random guy a ride and he attacked her? Because nobody can identify who this person is. Or is it someone that had been watching her and she agreed to give him a ride? The fact that we know it's not a robbery. We know it's not a sex assault. We know that it's broad daylight.

So who would have been so bold to attack this beautiful young co-ed just a couple of weeks away from her wedding? I really want to hear your thoughts, Barry. The police have the ability. They know a timeline of her disappearing for 30 minutes or so. You know, there are elements that they can use to investigate too, like her vehicle. I don't know if her vehicle was equipped with OnStar. I don't know if she had her cell phone with her. I'm assuming she did. I think in the earlier conversation, you said that she had her cell

phone with her. Yes, she did. That phone can also be pinged and they could find out where she was in that immediate area that she went missing for those 30 minutes. And then at that point, what I would do is just good old fashioned police work. I would canvas that area door to door, find out anybody and everybody in that area that has a criminal record, anybody that could match, you know, theoretically the type of crime that was committed. If they have a history of that, look for people that just got out of the penitentiary, look for people that have that kind of a vicious background or violent background and see if I could come up with a list of viable subjects that

could be possible suspects. It just does not make sense to me that a young lady like this would get out of her vehicle and have a confrontation with somebody in a remote area where she's not safe and not know that person. It just does not add up to me at all. I think that, again, I'm going to stick with my idea that it's somebody that she's familiar with. And I think that it's somebody that probably had an interest in her that she just did not reciprocate because she was very happy with whom she was with. Amber Berbilia is originally from New York, but calls South Carolina home now. She is a college student at Horry Georgetown

Technical College with designs on becoming a costume designer. Studying abroad in London for part of her education, she meets Jose Tulsar and comes back home in love. After two years of dating, Amber and Jose make plans to marry weeks after she graduates from college, and that time is fast approaching. Years later, and still no suspects, her family deserves closure. What happened to Amber Berbilia? When you don't know where to go, you start over and you look at who is your victim. Listen. Amber Berbilia is originally from New York, but calls South Carolina home now. She is a college student at Horry Georgetown Technical College with designs

on becoming a costume designer. Studying abroad in London for part of her education, she meets Jose Tulsar and comes back home in love. After two years of dating, Amber and Jose make plans to marry weeks after she graduates from college, and that time is fast approaching. What more do we know? Listen. At age 23, Amber Berbillia doesn't live at home, but talks to her mother daily. When one of her calls to her mother isn't answered, Amber leaves a message for her mother. Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you. I love you. Good night.

Oh, my stars. Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you. I love you. Good night. A message she leaves her mom. And joining me right now is Amber's mother, Michelle Robinson. Ms. Robinson, I almost hated to say those words back because I know it's like a knife to your heart to hear that rhyme, that message she left to you, that little poem.

But I want to ask you about the facts. We keep saying she went to go pay a cable bill, but there is something very probative about her paying the cable bill. Have you been informed about the video from inside the Time Warner cable office where she paid her bill that while she's in there, there is a man standing behind her, staring at her, and it's been described as in an aggressive manner. But it's my understanding, Ms. Robinson, that the guy, for all I know, he's angry about having to wait in line, has been investigated thoroughly and he has been cleared. Correct? That's what I was told. To Karen Ritchie joining us, Amber's best friend, and to her sister, Amanda Rubilia. Amanda, was there anything else happening in her life that she seemed disturbed

about or worried about that you know of? No, not at all. Just a couple weeks before she was killed, she came to visit me for Easter. I had some things I had to take care of. So she had come to take care of my daughters while I was away. And then when I came home, you know, we spent Easter Sunday together before she went back home. And, you know, she didn't mention at all anything. Nothing at all. Would she have told you she was worried about someone or something? Yeah, we were pretty close. She used to call me all the time, but she would have made me aware if there was something bothering her.

Alexis Tereszczuk, CrimeOnline.com. Where does the case stand right now? The case is still open. There have been no suspects released to the public. There have been there has been nobody arrested for it. Nothing. The police have not given any leads as to what anybody should look for. They have not said anything. They've never identified publicly a murder weapon at all. So this is a case that is still very open and still all of the evidence has not been released. And they're still looking for the murderers or murderer. To ease their broken hearts, Amber's family erected a memorial. Photos, mementos, flowers underneath the freeway overpass where she lost her life. They've also set up a website with information about her murder, justiceforamber.org. Repeat, justiceforamber.org.

If you know or even think you know anything about the murder of this beautiful young co-ed, please call toll-free 888-CRI4-6372. There is a $6,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of the facts behind the murder of Amber Berbillia. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Goodbye, friend.