Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Popular Restaurant Hostess Stabbed Dead at Prominent Dentist Home. Still No Arrest

Episode Date: July 13, 2023

Saturday night: Amber Spradlin finishes her shift at the Brickhouse Restaurant in Prestonsburg. She leaves the restaurant with friends, Roy Kidd, and Dr. Mike McKinney. Dr. McKinney is a well-known dentist and also happens to be the owner of the Brickhouse Restaurant.  They first head over to the Seasons Inn. A little while later,  the trio decides to leave the inn.  In the early morning hours of Sunday, they end up at the home of Dr. McKinney.  Just a few hours later, 911 is called, twice. Amber Spradlin has been stabbed eleven times in the head, neck and throat.  Now almost a month later, no arrests have been made.  Joining Nancy Grace Today: Dr. Debbie Hall- Cousin of the Victim; Facebook: Justice for Amber  Mark Wohlander - The Family’s Attorney, Former Kentucky Prosecutor & Former FBI special agent; Volunteer at the David School Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst; Twitter: @DrBethanyLive   Robin Dreeke - Behavior Expert & Former FBI Special Agent / Chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program; Author: "Sizing People Up: A Veteran FBI Agents Manual for Behavior Prediction;" Twitter: @rdreeke  Dr. Michelle DuPre - Forensic Pathologist, Medical Examiner and Detective: Lexington County Sheriff's Department: Author: "Homicide Investigation Field Guide" & "Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide;" Forensic Consultant  Jeff Vanderbeck - V.P. and Publisher Appalachian Newspapers Inc (which includes the Floyd County Chronicle and Times, The News Express, mango Messenger, The Paintsville Herald and the Mongo Messenger in WV); Twitter: @floydchronicle  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. What happened to Amber? Why do we still not have answers in the case of a young woman brutally murdered? It seems to me the answer is right under the noses of authorities. But why no arrest? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thanks for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111.

First of all, take a listen to this. Around one on Sunday, her aunt Wanda Spradlin got a call that would change her life. We was out walking the flea market and her aunt called and wanted to know if we'd seen or heard from her. And we hadn't.

Amber, who worked at the popular Brick House in Prestonsburg, wasn't at work or at home. Early in life, Amber Spradlin experienced trauma and heartbreak, but she endured. She was just three years old when her mother died, and later, her sister died in a car accident. She was raised by her grandparents, and as they got older, she in turn put her own life on hold to care for them. After her grandparents passed, Amber Spradlin started to grow. She moved into her own place for the first time and got a job she really enjoyed at the Brick House Restaurant. Amber Spradlin looked forward to every day and

every new adventure. But that life of adventure she was finally getting to live after her family raised her, her grandparents after her mom was killed. As they became elderly, she decided to take care of them. When they passed, she finally started living the life she had dreamed of. She wanted to travel. She wanted adventure. The same things that so many of us want, but that was not to be. Joining me in All-Star Panel to make sense of what we know right now, but first to Jeff Vanderbeek, VP, publisher of Appalachian Newspapers, Inc. Thanks for being with us. You can find Jeff at floridcountychronicle.com. Jeff, tell me about this young woman, Amber Spradlin.

Seems like she had devoted so much of her life trying to take care of her grandparents. What we know of Amber at this point is that, you know, she is a typical Eastern Kentuckian who is a true grit, hardworking, just wants to take care of her family members and so on and so forth. Just, you know, just from what we know of her, she's just a regular all-American type of individual who just wanted to live life and do things right and so on. What was she doing at Brick House Restaurant? What was her job there? To my knowledge, I believe she was a hostess at the restaurant.

You know, the Brick House Restaurant is a nice restaurant. It's been a staple of the community for a long time, and I believe that it was just changed ownership several years back to the current owner. I don't know exactly how long Amber worked there, but you know, you go in there and she has a smiling face and she would, you know, see you and say hello to you.

And, and she, she treated her customers very well. You know, Dr. Bethany Marshall joining us, renowned psychoanalyst joining us from Beverly Hills. You can find her at drbethanymarshall.com.

Dr. Bethany, have you ever gone to a restaurant and the hostess or the person in charge, let's just say, was so rude, you never went back, or the waiter or the waitress just didn't care, they were so put off having to bring you an ice water with a straw or whatever you had asked for. You just never went back.

Nancy, yes. And I will say I've also had the opposite where the host or the hostess really knows me, has a relationship with me, knows all of the customers. And I think that the restaurants that are the most successful, it's not because of the owner, the cooks, the people, the back, the wait staff. It's the hostess. It's that first person you greet when you walk through the front door that says hello and takes you through your table. And in the case of Amber, it's that person who you know is going to miss you if you go to another restaurant instead of theirs. I mean, they're going to say,

we missed you Friday night. We missed you Saturday. They have a relationship with you and your family, especially in this kind of a community. So she played an incredibly important role in that restaurant. And by all accounts,

everybody loved this girl, Amber Sproulen. Big, huge smile. Perfect teeth. I mean, in the photos I've seen of her, she's looking right at you in every single one. She's got a big smile. According to everyone that knew her, she's so beloved. So she gets this job. She's no longer taking care

of her grandparents. They've passed away. She feels she's done her duty. And she gets this job at a local restaurant where her main job is dealing with the public. Now, that's an interesting job right there because, and let me go to you, Dr. Michelle Dupree, joining me, pathologist, medical examiner, and important, former detective. Dr. Dupree, when you are a young woman and you are a hostess at a very popular restaurant, you come in contact with everybody in town and beyond, whoever may be passing through town right there in Prestonburg, Kentucky. So you have no idea, really, who you're greeting, who you're meeting, because they're there for an hour and they're gone.

Who knows who may have seen her, been attracted to her, started watching her. We have no idea, Dr. Dupree. Absolutely, Nancy. And, you know, we oftentimes find that the suspect will make some kind of a personal connection with that person, and that person doesn't even realize it. And they just have this fantasy in their mind, and it grows and grows. And again, the victim or the person in this case doesn't even realize it's happening. It's very scary. You've got a young girl who finally goes out on her own, gets her first place or first apartment, gets this job, and her job is meeting and greeting the public. People she knows, people she doesn't know, all day, all night. We're trying to learn all we can about this missing woman, Amber Spradlin. But what happened the night she seemingly goes missing?

Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online. Saturday night, Amber Spradlin finishes her shift at the Brick House restaurant in Prestonsburg. She leaves the restaurant with a friend, Roy Kidd, and Dr. Mike McKinney. Dr. McKinney is a well-known dentist in town and also happens to be the owner of the Brick House restaurant. A little while later, the trio decides to leave the season's end, and they end up at the home of Dr. McKinney on Arkansas Creek. Joining me right now is a very special guest. It's Debbie Hall. This is Amber's cousin.

Also with us, the family lawyer, Mark Wohlander. Debbie, thank you for being with us. Would you say that Amber had been sheltered? Did she lead a sheltered life? Had she dated a lot of people? She led a very sheltered life. And I only know her ever having two boyfriends the whole time. She had a lot of problems whenever she was in school fitting in. She got bullied a lot. She went from school to school trying to find a place to fit. And her grandparents really took care of her and protected her, and they took her on trips. She didn't have a big social life early on.

Why was she bullied, Debbie? She had some emotional issues as far as some depression and some anxiety, and she just had difficulty. She couldn't understand if people were kidding with her so she had a little bit of trouble there. She's a little socially awkward I think and kids were just rude and mean. Did people bully her because she's chubby?, I think that also. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. You know, Dr. Bethany, that just hurts my heart so much to thank this girl. I mean, you've looked at her picture. She looks so sweet and loving and open to have been bullied and tormented

from one school to the next. And you're hearing Debbie Hall, this is Amber's cousin, talk about how the grandparents, I mean, she already lost her mother. Her grandparents tried to protect her and shield her from bullies and then move her from one school to the next. And then she spent, you know, her young adult years, you know, in her 20s, trying to take care of her grandparents. Mm-hmm. And she finally gets out, gets an apartment, and starts this job at Brick House.

And now this. I mean, this girl didn't have a chance, Dr. Bethany. She's so naive. And only had two boyfriends. Let me guess, Debbie Hall was one like in high school, one of those boyfriends? Shortly after high school, yes. Whenever she just, she'd gone to a vocational school for a few months and met one there. Hmm. You know, Nancy, kids can be so cruel, can't they? And trauma, I like the fact that our behavioral expert brought up trauma and the arc that that creates. Trauma presents as the kinds of things that can lead to bullying.

Dr. Bethany, I've got to tell you what happened. Okay, tell me. Okay, so the children graduated from their elementary school where they went to elementary and middle. And they were starting a big, a much bigger school. My son knew a lot of people that had transferred to this big school. My daughter went without any close friends at all. She knew practically zero. So she comes home one day.

She goes, Mom, I have to get a lulu lemon bag you know what lulu lemon is i bet you do living in beverly hills like one sports bra is like 50 a pair of leggings like 90 and i said lucy why do we have to get a shot and she goes mom Mom, to get the bag, you have to buy something. I'm like, you do know that a pair of pants at Lululemon is like $90, right? She goes, Mom, I got to get a Lululemon bag. I'm like, honey, why? She said, well, all the girls, if they don't eat in the cafeteria, they bring their lunch in a Lululemon bag. Well, you know, I went and paid $90 for a pair of whatever I paid. Of course you did.

I made Lucy go in and get it. She came out and she looked so downcast. She said, Mom, with the tax included, it was $91. I said, Honey, don't worry. Just enjoy that bag. Enjoy that Lululemon bag. And do you know the next day she had her little lunch in that Lululemon bag.

And I just, when I went to go pick them up, I started looking around, Bethany. And sure enough, I saw about eight or nine little girls. And some of them couldn't have been over the seventh grade walking around proudly with their lulu lemon bag on their shoulder and i was just thinking she's not one to ever want a particular label of clothing or tennis shoes or anything like that in fact this is one of the few things she's ever come out and actually asked for but can you imagine if this happened to lucy who like, she looks like a cover model, she's perfect, she's got great grades. And what would happen to Amber, who is socially awkward, and people make fun of her because she's chubby? Can you even imagine what her life was like trying to get through high school? Nancy, think about the important role you played with Lucy

that when she wanted the bag, instead of saying, well, why do you want a bag? Why do you want to fit in with everybody else? You knew as her mother, you were attuned and you knew that she needed to be, to fit in. She needed to feel one of the crowd and one of the girls and you met that need. But Lucy has a mother and Amber did not.

She lost her mother when she was three. She was raised by her grandparents. And that trauma, you know, it primed her to lack social cuing, to not fit in with other people. And then grandparents, you know, they're a generation away. So maybe grandparents wouldn't buy a lululemon bag right they might not know how to help amber fit in i mean we could talk about this for days okay wait a minute dr bethany i'm sorry to take everybody else down my rabbit hole but uh as a joke to john david yeah wait a minute wait a minute, wait for it. He was obsessed with, let's see, was it Buzz Lightyear or was it, you do know who Tow Mater is, right? It's a race car in McQueen. Yeah, but it's Tow Mater.

He's a tow truck. Get it? Okay, so I think when he was starting the eighth grade, I sent his lunch to school and a Tow Mater lunch bag he had when he was about three. When he came home, I found it stuffed down at the bottom of his backpack and all the food was gone, but he had hidden it. It was a joke. I did not do that again. But yes, yes, it's very deep water that they're treading. Well, because you were involved in the nuances of what would be a joke for John David to pack

lunch in the tomato bag from when he was a much younger child, and he in turn stuffed the bag where you couldn't find it. I mean, but there's a lot of social queuing that goes back and forth between a parent and a child. And when there's already a generational difference, like Amber had with her grandparents, she missed out on all those delightful, potentially, I mean, her cousins here on the panel, but all of these delightful experiences that kids have with their own parents growing up. But I want to say something about Amber. She and her boss were really great friends. That tells you something about her.

But I wanted to address that right there, which led me down the garden path. She had never really connected with a lot of people in high school. She was socially awkward. She had bullies. She went from high school to high school to high school, which makes it really hard to ever make close friends. And now she's at this restaurant where she's working as a hostess, the Brick House Restaurant, and the owner and co-workers invite her to go out after. I mean, Debbie Hall, I bet that was a big deal for her. Oh, I'm sure it was. I'm sure she felt totally safe and really excited to be included in.

Oh, man, that just hurts me. That hurts me so much. She was so excited to be asked out after her shift at work. But then this. Take a listen to Lee Searcy, LEX18. In the early morning hours of Sunday, June 18th, Spradlin had been hanging out with people she knew when they ended up here at the home of a prominent local dentist.

At some point, they tell us, something terrible happened. I just don't know what in the world would have gone so wrong to result in what happened. But there was a know what in the world would have gone so wrong to result in what happened but there was a 9-1-1 call and no one went. A 9-1-1 call? Why? What happened? Take a listen now to W-O-W-K. Wanda says Sunday night Kentucky State Police told them her body had been found in another person's home along Arkansas Creek Road in Martin. Kentucky state police say they suspect foul play. They don't know why it took first responders so long to find her and help. I just don't know what in the world would have gone so

wrong to result in what happened but there was a 9-1-1 call and no one went the community has been calling the county's 9-1-1 dispatch system into question since amber's death the attorney says it took first responders hours to find amber gone but not forgotten no cover-up i hear horns beeping in the background that's a protest i don't understand what's happening jeff vanderbeek joining me uh he's covered the case at the very beginning there at the floydcountychronicle.com i don't understand 9-1-1 was called but they didn't show up what happened well we can't get copies of the 9-1-1 obviously because it's still an investigation, an active investigation by Kentucky State Police. But we are under the impression that there was a 911 call made from the doctor's house. We don't know who made that call, and we don't know exactly what happened during that call.

But apparently, there was, and I'm not sure the exact time of that call, but there was definitely a call made to the 911 center early morning. And then apparently there's another one four hours later requesting services at that particular time. Four hour delay. Guys, you're hearing Jeff Vanderbeck joining us from Appalachian Newspapers, Inc. and Floyd County Chronicle for hours. Well, that doesn't make any sense to me. And right there at the end, guys, you were what? Hold on. Do I hear you jumping in, Jeff? Go ahead. Yeah. Let me clarify that there was a call made in the morning, early hours. And we like I said, we don't have, we can't get copies of those calls, but, uh, we do know that, uh, while that call was made, uh, they did call that

off. They, whoever they is, or they are, uh, called it off. And somebody at the 911 made a decision to, uh, say that there was no, um, nothing, um, um nothing important or eminent happening at that particular time. And then according to our resources and our sources, several hours later, another 911 call was made at that particular time. And that's when authorities were dispatched. That clarified a lot, Jeff Vanderbeek. There was a 911 call, and then someone called back pretty quickly and went, oh, never mind. It's all fine.

It was the same call during the same day. Now, we did do an open records request to get any copies of a 911 call made by Amber or her cell phone. And according to the authorities, that call does not exist. So there was no call made by Amber to the 911 center. Uh, but we do know that there was a call made by somebody, uh, uh, when we're, we're, we're, we're trying to ascertain if that was from Dr. McKinney's house or somebody at the house, or if in fact, Dr. McKinney himself called or who called. But we don't know exactly because Kentucky Press, Kentucky State Police has not released that. And they will not release that information until the investigation is over. So, guys, you're hearing Jeff Vanderbeck from Appalachian newspapers. So there's a call. Then whoever calls also says, oh, OK, wait, you know what?

Never mind. Everything's fine. Four hours pass and there's another call. You are also hearing our friends at WHAS. Now, take a listen to our friends at WYMT. KSP investigators say they were called to a home in the Arkansas Creek area just outside Martin. State police say their initial investigation found 39-year-old Amber Spradlin of Prestonsburg had suffered life-threatening injuries. KSP says she was pronounced dead at the scene by the Floyd County Coroner's Office. Investigators do suspect foul

play in this case. There's no word on any suspects at this time. Amber Spradlin's loved ones were emotional as they gave details on how she died. She was stabbed at least 11 times in her head, her neck, and her throat. I can't imagine what she was going through and how she was feeling. But that's not all they shared Thursday afternoon during a press conference outside of the Floyd County Courthouse. Some members of the community who were there to show support Thursday have questioned how long it's taken to figure out what happened at a Holman Martin. 11 stab wounds in the head, the neck, and the throat. This young woman murdered. One 911 call was followed by, oh, don't bother. Four hours later, another 911 call is made. Debbie Hall is joining us. This is Amber's cousin. Tell me one thing, Debbie, in whose home was Amber found dead? Dr. Michael McKinney, the dentist here in Prestonsburg, and he's also the owner of the Brick House restaurant.

What about it? Dr. Michelle Dupree joining us, renowned forensic pathologist, medical examiner, former detective. You can find her at dmichelledupreemd.com. Eleven stab wounds to the neck, the face, the throat. Nancy, this was rage. I mean, again, this is something personal. We often find that especially sharp force injuries are personal. You have to be up close. I mean, touching that person, you know, again, it's not like firing a gun from across the room. This was personal. This

was rage. Stab wounds to the face. Dr. Bethany Marshall, that's got to mean something. I mean, I'm just a trial lawyer. You're the shrink. But stab wounds to the face? Well, Nancy, I mean, to piggyback on what Dr. Michelle Dupree said, this was rage. It was up close and personal. What happened interpersonally? You know, the thoughts that come to mind is she knew something or discovered something that made the other person enraged. Perhaps there was methamphetamine involved because when I think of this kind of overkill, I think of drug activity.

I'm not saying that Amber was using drugs, but the perpetrator may have been because this kind of overkill is really usually caused by drugs that propel energy and activity and mania. I'm also wondering, you know, I keep thinking about discovery. Did she know something that the other person didn't want her to know, and that came out over the course of the evening? She was with a group of people that went from place to place. What transpired as she was with that group? What were they talking about? What came to light? What did they experience?

You know, something happened in that milieu that ended up in this horrible, horrible murder in the dentist's home. You know what's interesting? To Mark Wollander joining us, this is a family lawyer, intimately familiar with the facts as we know them right now. In nearly, not every,

but nearly every bit of research I found on Amber's murder, no one ever mentions that she's found in the home of this prominent dentist. Nancy, that's correct. The state police didn't put out any of that information until we held our press conference. And I think the state police, for all good reasons,

has been holding back on a lot of information they have. In particular, there's been a lot of calls that the state police are covering something up. But very candidly, anybody that's ever been involved in a case like this knows that the amount of blood that's at the scene, and we know that there was at least one other person that was cut at the scene, it's going to take them a long time to sort through the DNA. Although I will say that I have been assured by the captain at the state police post that the laboratory in Frankfurt has moved Amber's case to the front of the line and they are working diligently to figure out whose DNA was in that house that morning. Let me understand

something. How do you know someone else was cut at the scene and where on their body were they cut? Do you know? Nancy, we know that from the information that's been put out there and we know that the person that was cut, the other person that was cut was roy kidd and we don't know whether or not and how he got cut but we know that he bled and that his blood probably more than likely was mixed in with amber's blood at the scene so i mean at the end of the day i think we i've talked to the family and i've talked to the investigators about this but we're all patiently waiting to make sure that when an arrest is made, the arrest is made at the right individual or individuals who are involved. Debbie Hall, the cousin of Amber Spradlin, do you know where on his body Roy Kidd was cut? I do not.

I'm just curious, was it on his hand? Which would be very interesting. He has not been named a person of interest or a defendant, a suspect in this case. I have seen many, many times when there is a multiple stabbing murder victim that the perp has a cut on their hand where their hand goes down the knife in the middle of the stab. Speaking of DNA at the crime scene, take a listen to our friends at WHASNWOWK. Kentucky State Police is working the case, but staying tight-lipped. The family's attorney believes they have their suspect, but because the crime scene was so gruesome, DNA evidence has been difficult to separate in the lab. There was blood everywhere, and there was blood that was mixed with other

blood and other DNA. Families say they don't know why anyone would want to hurt her. Amber Spradlin, known for her generous heart, is now being mourned by those who loved her so much. I'm David Sighted because she was a wonderful person. I love her and I really, really miss her. Troopers haven't said who the home belonged to. And with so many questions unanswered right now, her family says there's one thing they're certain of. If there is foul play, I hope whoever did it is brought to justice because she did not deserve this. Not quite sure why they're not saying what the family is telling us that Amber was found stabbed 11 times at the home of a prominent dentist in the early, early morning hours. Dr. Michael McIntyre. Is that his name, Debbie Hall?

McKinney. Michael McKinney. Thank you. Dr. Michael McKinney, a dentist. But I do know this. I know the lawyer, a veteran trial lawyer I might add, Mark Wollander says the family is waiting patiently for answers. I'm not so sure

that I agree with that. Take a listen to our friends at WSAZ 3. First tonight, loved ones of a woman found dead in Floyd County on Sunday are just praying for justice at this point. Kentucky State Police say Amber Spradlin was found dead on Sunday. Foul play is suspected. Investigators have not shared many details about the case or said whether they have any suspects or suspect in mind. Officially, News Channel 3's Andrew Colgrove spoke with relatives of the victim determined to keep a light on the case until a killer is behind bars. Once her body is buried, this other stuff is not buried. And more. Family of Amber Spradlin, grieving and furious. She was just getting started with her life.

The 39-year-old's uncle and aunt knew something was wrong Sunday when they were unable to reach her. I was driving everywhere trying to look for a car. Their worst fear realized. It was like dashing the bucket of cold water over me. It felt like it instantly went into a nightmare. Kentucky State Police say Amber was found dead at a home along Arkansas Creek in the town of Martin and investigators suspect foul play. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Let me understand something. Jeff Vanderbilt joining us, publisher Appalachian Newspapers.

How far away is the dentist Michael McKinney's home from the Brick House restaurant where Amber worked as a hostess? I'm not sure the exact mileage, but, you know, Martin, Kentucky, which is where I believe he lives, the city of Martin and the downtown restaurant, they're probably 10, 15 minutes away from each other. So it's not a very far thing. And as far as, you know, the comment you made before about, you know, KSP, you know, not releasing stuff. I mean, this is a high profile case in eastern Kentucky. And, you know, there's got to be due process. And I'm sure the like Wollander said before, you know, I'm sure all the the the the the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted before anything happens a killer on the loose in Prestonsburg right now in Floyd County, Kentucky. There is a killer on the loose or killers on the loose. We have not solved that problem. And that needs to be addressed immediately because we need to make sure that our communities are safe because that's what that's what's being overlooked at this time in addition. And regardless of this whole thing, you know, yes, the 911 call or the 911 situation needs to be addressed.

But the bottom line is that there's still a killer loose in our community and somebody needs to do something about it. And you know what? To Robin Drake, joining us, behavior expert, former FBI in the Counterintelligence Behavior Analysis Program, there is something very unique and, may I say, very twisted about not only a killer, but a killer that uses a knife as a weapon. It's a lot different scenarios, a whole other can of worms, and let's just say a sniper that shoots the victim at a distance, very little contact. And not only murder by knife, but 11 stab wounds to this girl's face, neck, and head? Yeah, like I said earlier, it's highly personal. It's highly violent. A lot of energy behind it.

And the other thing that's been striking me here, too, is so they call 911 and no one shows up. Why wouldn't anyone bring her to the hospital in a car i mean you have people on scene supposedly at least someone was that called 911 when they didn't show up why not put her in a car and move go do something take action that's what's really surprising one of the many surprising things in this entire situation. And as her cousin was saying earlier, too, living a life in isolation where you're taking care of your wonderful grandparents that have raised you, she lacked a lot of social reps, too. So she might not have been able to really cue in on unsafe situations from

individuals that she's surrounded by, possibly. You know what? That's a really good point. She had led this very, you know, this woman, Amber, is only 4'11". She is very diminutive. She's been socially awkward her whole life. She was bullied in school, went from one school to the next, socially awkward. And how excited do you believe she was to get invited out after work by a prominent dentist who owned the Brick House

restaurant where she worked and co-workers? How fun would that be? And just imagine this is late at night after the restaurant closes. They go out and somehow she ends up dead with 11 stab wounds now I agree don't get me wrong any of you on the panel I prosecuted and investigated thousands of cases I understand holding things close to the vest so as not to somehow impugn the integrity of the investigation, but to not even release the location of the crime, that's very unusual in my mind. Take a listen to more. This is Shea McAllister, WHAS. According to state police, the 39-year-old was found dead in a home on Arkansas Creek earlier this month. That's about four and a half hours from Louisville in Floyd County, Kentucky. Kentucky State Police troopers confirmed she had life-threatening injuries

and they do suspect foul play, meaning they're working it as a homicide investigation. Well, today, the victim's family is asking for support as they go on 10 days without an arrest in the case and without answers as to why it took so long for the 911 call to be heard. I'm very curious too, we keep focusing as Jeff Vanderbeck pointed out about the whole 911 system being screwed up. I'm also questioning, why wasn't she taken to the hospital? Nancy, if I might, this is Jeff Vanderbeck, if I might say something. The assumption is that the initial 911 call was made and said, hey, there's somebody hurt here. We don't know that for a fact.

We don't know anything about it because the 911 call was not released. So we don't know what that 911 call was all about. We don't know if it was because somebody was injured. We don't know if it was because Amber was in danger. We don't know anything about that 911 call because the tape was not released. So if the 911 call came in, the initial 911 call came in,

it was completely nothing regarding Amber, then the whole point of this whole thing is a moot point. But I mean, Jeff Vanderbilt, really? Yeah. You really think that there were two life-threatening situations in one night in the space of four hours at one residence? Well, you know, based upon the brutality of the alleged act and based upon what we know so far, people were not thinking in their right mind.

And there's a lot of information that I'm being told. Are you saying somebody was on drugs? I'm not saying anything. I'm not saying anything to that regard. Well, then, frankly, Jeff Vanderbeck, I don't care if people were not thinking in their right mind. Because if it is drugs, if it is booze, voluntary use of drugs or alcohol are not a defense. If it's panicking, Jeff Vanderbeek, don't care. People always panic when somebody's been stabbed 11 times in the face.

I guess so. I guess they were out of their mind. But that does not change that a killer is walking free. And in that vein, Jeff, I want to go to Dr. Michelle Dupree. Can you tell by the temperature of the body, the degree of rigor or liver mortis, and the coagulation of blood on and around the body, how long the victim has been dead? I'm just curious how long this beautiful girl, Amber Spradlin, lay there dead before anybody went, yeah, you know what, let's do call 911. Yes, Nancy, of course.

You can get an estimate, but it's always an estimate. You know, it's not like on TV they died at 937. So, yes, you can get an estimate within a few hours. I'm not sure how much help that would be here. Well, it might help me a lot. And then there are extrinsic ways to, other than the condition of the body, to determine the time of the death. Like, did Amber send a text?

Did Amber make a phone call? Did Amber post something? Is there anything, can we see movement on her phone? Whether it was her using the phone or not. Can we see movement around the home? A lot of extrinsic evidence can indicate the time of death. And as you say, not specifically, but close to the time of death. Guys, take a listen now to our cut 12. Floyd County Fiscal Court documents say in December 2022, the decision to move the call

center from the Kentucky State Police Post to the city of Prestonsburg was because of an increase in service fees. Now, they've launched a petition to move the call center back to the Kentucky State Police Post. A family heartbroken, wanting answers and changes, but willing to be patient until investigators have all the pieces to this puzzle. Debbie Hall, let me understand. So, at first it's believed that the call went to one 911 center and they didn't respond. Then four hours later, there is a response. But now I'm learning after that first 911 call, there was an immediate follow-up saying, yeah, you know what, never mind, don't come.

So, does that really have anything to do with the changing of the 911 call center? I am not sure. I do know that in the past, the KSP has handled the 911 calls, and I do not know of any problems like this that have come about. Okay. What about it, Mark Wollander? Well, Nancy, let's get back to that first call about five o'clock in the morning. We believe that that was one call and that two people got on the phone, at least what we're hearing. And the first person said, we have a fight going on out here. That's what I've learned from comments made by Mayor Les Stapleton. And then somebody else picked up the phone and said, no, everything's under control. You don't need to send anybody out. And so, you know, the question is, is did they even follow the protocol that they put together when they entered into this agreement?

The agreement said that if you have calls out in the county, the dispatch was responsible for contacting the Kentucky State Police or the Floyd County Sheriff's Department to send them out to see what was going on at these types of calls. So nobody came at five o'clock in the morning. And then the question is, is who all was responsible for killing Amber? From what I understand, from what I've been told, there were no defensive wounds on her arms. And so the question that I have is, did somebody hold her down? Were there two people involved in the murder? And then the real question that nobody's really addressed is, what happened between 5 o'clock and ten o'clock when they came out did the people at the house dr mckinney

his son mike roy kid and anybody else was there did they spend those four hours trying to clean up the crime scene and that's important so yes the 9-1-1 center being moved to the to the city of prestonsburg when the kentucky state police had 12 troopers assigned to cover 911 calls in Floyd County. They're no longer assigned to Floyd County because of what Mayor Les Stapleton and the judge executive, Robbie Williams, have done in this case. And all that we hear from them 25 days later is instead of trying to address this issue, the only thing that they've done up till now is Robbie Williams, the county judge executive, he held a special meeting to get approval to hire a big law firm in Lexington, Kentucky, to fight any civil suit that may come down the road. Well, they're worried about a civil suit when the killer has not been apprehended. Let me ask you a question. To your understanding, Mark Wollander, how many people were in the, quote, prominent dentist's home the night of the murder?

As far as we know right now, there were at least five people in the house. I know the names of three of them. I don't know the names of the other two, but there may have been others there. Since we've had the press conference, we continue to get emails and text messages from people in the community that have been sending us information that we have been then passing on to the state police. But at least three that we know of, because we know that Dr. McKinney was there, and we know that his son MK was there, and we also know that Roy Kidd was there. And we know that from information that's been passed on through sources. As of right now, no person of interest, no suspect, no defendant. And my question is,

nearly one month later, why? The bigger question is, who cleaned up the crime scene? Who else was involved? Amber, the murder was so violent that somebody had to be holding her down. And Debbie, you're here, and I don't want to make this difficult on you, but from what you described, her head must have moved back and forth, back and forth, when the knife wounds were being pressed into her. And the wound that we think, Debbie, I'm going to stop me if you don't want to hear this, but the wound that we think was the death wound was the knife wound from the front of her throat that severed her spine. And so the other wounds were still happening. And then one of the wounds, they broke off the knife in her temple. So, I mean, it's pretty bad. It's pretty vicious.

And again, you have at least five people in a house. Why didn't someone do something? That's pretty vicious. And again, you have at least five people in a house. Why didn't someone do something? That's the question. And that's what I think they're waiting for the DNA. There was DNA or there was blood that went through the hallway upstairs. And there was a bag of bloody cloths that we think was from blood from Roy Kidd. No person of interest, no suspect, no defendant. If you have information on who murdered this young woman, Amber Spradlin, let your voice be heard.

Tip line 606-949-2020. Repeat 606-949-2020. Her family is waiting for justice. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.