Dr. Insanity - Dad Realizes His Daughter's Body Was Found In A Garbage Can

Episode Date: April 27, 2025

You’re 30 seconds away from being debt-free with PDS Debt. Get your free assessment and find the best option for you at https://PDSDebt.com/insanity. Police arrived at the home of Keith and Amber Zotto after Amber’s mother, Bette, called 911 earlier that day. Amber hadn’t answered any calls or messages for two days, and Bette feared something was wrong. When police arrived, they'd discover something horrifying... This video was made for educational purposes only. The video is presented to provide genuine footage of police incidents to promote transparency in government while providing educational, informative and newsworthy content allowing viewers to examine and assess public safety material. This is a fact-checked documentary using authoritative sources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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that's sure, demand a submission. Demand a submission. Whoa, gun. There's also blood in here. She's in there. Police are at the home. Police are at the home of Keith.

Amber's mother, Betty, had called 9-1-1 earlier that day, asking officers to check on her daughter. Amber hadn't responded to any calls or messages in two days, and Betty feared the worst. The officers arriving at the scene initially expected a routine missing person's call, but what sat inside the house would be far more twisted and disturbing than anyone could have imagined. Show me your head! I got the dog.

Get a little fucking ground! When police first arrive at the Zotto home, they encounter something strange. Only Keith and Amber's children answer the door, claiming their parents are gone and they don't know when they'll be back. This alarms the officers, so they decide to call Betty, the person who originally dialed 911, hoping she can shed some light on this situation. But what Betty reveals to officers would quickly transform this simple welfare check, to one of the town's most disturbing mysteries yet. Hello? Betty, he's off to Crowley, a Royal Police Department.

I'm at the Milan Circle address. I'm talking to the kids. What's your relation to this family, just so I know? I'm their grandma. She didn't take her truck because you can see it in the driveway. Yeah, I was wondering about that. Her phone, the day card is still in the house. Yeah.

Betty, how many times do you think she's done that? Well, she's come over to my house. Oh, three, four times this year. All right. But it's always been for a day. What I'd like to do is start where we always start, and that's the last place she was seen. I don't want to ask these kids for permission to go in the house, so I may have to call your son-in-law, talk to him on the phone,

and see if he'll give me permission to go inside. Betty would mention that she had been to the house earlier that day and noticed a few strange details. Amber's car was still in the driveway of the home, and her phone was left inside the house, as well as all of her credit cards and important documents. These minute details would prove to be much more important later on. Shortly after this call, Betty and her husband Ronald arrived at their daughter's home to meet with the police. It's here where Betty would reveal what she believed really happened to her daughter.

Hey, I'm Officer Carly. Thanks for coming out. I called him and I left to him a message. He didn't pick the phone up. So I can't just go inside with a warrant. I'd either need a warrant or is permission to go inside the house. And it's not your residence, and I can't ask me for permission. Obviously, the kids are too young. Absolutely. So I just want to do it the right way before anything else if that makes sense.

Yep. When's the lesson that you saw the dog? Saturday afternoon when I came to pick up the kids. They spent the night kids in Saturday. Was there any problems at that point, or was it just pick the kids up? The kids are going to stay at her house for the weekend. Everything was fine. Maybe.

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the alcohol. No. No charracki. I'll see you tomorrow. Okay. There's been any drink

at that point I don't think of the evening. Okay. Yeah. And then no sign that there's been any argument or anything like that. Okay. As you can see, I don't want you to think that I jumped in any conclusions, but I'm just trying to put like a kind of a piece of timeline and kind of behavior as well, too.

According to Betty, the family typically had dinner together on the weekends, and although Keith and Amber occasionally argued, things never turned physical, at least not to her knowledge. But with no parents' home, officers still call. couldn't legally enter the residence, so they continued speaking with Betty, hoping she'd reveal something that could explain Amber's sudden disappearance. Betty explained that Amber was highly active in the community, volunteering at her children's elementary school as the treasurer of the parent organization, and everyone around town knew her as a family first mother, spending most of her time with her children.

That's why Amber's disappearance was so puzzling. It simply wasn't like her to spontaneously leave her kids alone. But this confusion would only heighten when Betty showed officers something that made the case even more unsettling. A note, suggesting Amber might have harmed herself. The note is what concerned about. Do you mind if I read that? I don't have a problem. Is this a copy of it?

Yes, I made a copy. I don't know how this is the original. Okay. I didn't want to... Just from a report, I'm going to have to take the original for evidence for property at some point, okay? Okay. But I'm going to sit and read this in the meet center. The note Betty had to do.

discovered earlier read in part. I haven't been the best wife. I deserve everything and all the horrible thoughts you think of me. I have always had it in my mind. Make sure my mom has to identify my body. Everyone would be better off without me.

At first glance, the note appears as a tragic heartfelt goodbye. Amber seemingly detailing years of self-doubt, despair, and emotional pain. But something about this note didn't align with what police knew about Amber. According to her mother, whenever Amber and Keith fought, Amber always stayed at

her parents' house and had never just disappeared, certainly not without contacting her family first. And although Betty clarified that her daughter had a history of self-harm ideation and emotional struggles, the notes tone sounded off, especially the disturbingly specific instructions for her own mother to identify her body, which seemed strangely cruel. To investigators, these unusual details hinted at the chilling possibility that the note wasn't exactly what it appeared. They began to suspect Amber might not have written these words freely. Something wasn't right. So based on these signs, officers decided to speak with Betty again, this time on the oddities found inside the note. Do you think it's something that would he harm her in any way? Would you have any

either information or inkling that that might happen no okay um if she had walked away i mean i'm just wondering where else or how far she could have gone she has walked to our house we're in seven yeah um when she's been drinking in can i understand of course she's made it i agree that's why i'm so concerned and that's where that's why i search sunrise part because That's the closest heart to hear. And I don't know why in my head it's, you're not going to do it in your home. Betty would also find the note strange,

but doesn't think Keith would have anything to do with Amber's disappearance. At this point, nothing makes sense. So, without any further clues, officers decide to move to the next step in their investigation, searching the property. As we know, without the homeowner's permission, officers still can't go inside the house without a proper search warrant.

Fortunately, by using the kids, they were able to get on the phone with Amber's husband, Keith, hoping to get the permission they needed. She's dad? The cost of you and the one-pastee. This is Keith? Yes, this is Keith. Keith is Officer Crow.

with your real place. How are you? I'm all right. I'm sorry to go over a couple series of events and then ask you for permission if I could go inside your house and where we start of searches is the last place you was seen and that would be your house. But I don't have a warrant and I'm asking you for permission to go inside your house too. Go ahead, man. Luckily, Keith seemed to have no problem letting officers search his home. While one officer continued his conversation with Keith, another would immediately begin searching the property, completely unaware they were both minutes away from uncovering the horrifying truth. But before we continue, it's worth noting that covering stories like this, you realize just

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That's PDSdebt.com slash insanity. With that said, let's get back to the investigation. One of the officers was about to search the family's home with no idea just how close they were to discovering the gruesome scene hidden in plain sight. So keep you gave verbal consent for us to go in the house. I'm just going to go in. If you want to come with me.

I will, because I'd like you to show you in that. Okay. Where did you find the notebook in the grass? In the garage. They literally live there. Okay, let's start there. So, Keith, what's, I mean, in a bigger picture, what's going on? Man, me and have her drink a lot, and we cried a lot.

She likes to walk away, or actually drive away, and I took her keys from her, so she couldn't drive away. She grabbed her purse, slammed her phone on the ground, and left, and I have not seen her sense. Did you actually see her leave? Or you just assumed she left. Oh, sir. I begged her to stay on the couch. We fought a little bit more. And I said, well, whatever happened.

You sleep out here on the couch. I'm going inside. And I went inside. I don't know. It was like two or three in the morning. And then when I woke up at 9 10 o'clock Sunday morning, there was a letter on the fucking coffee table. Has she ever threatened to hurt herself in the past?

Oh, she has. The last five years, it's been her go-to. What's why I try to tell her. Grandma and Grandpa, too. She does this to me all the time, almost every weekend if she leaves, and then she won't come back until Monday or Tuesday. And then my kids get all mad at it because I let her back in. I hope you don't mind me ask you your personal questions,

but is it possible she's seeing somebody else and she stays there? Oh, for sure. For her she is. That's why we fight all the time. She's been seeing somebody for about five years now. And she don't pay our bills. That's why we always fight, man. Based on Keith and Betty's statements,

both were aware Amber had struggled emotionally in the past, but neither realized just how serious the situation had become or how tragically wrong their assumptions would soon turn out to be. Where exactly was the book when you found it right there? Okay. And you recognized her handwriting? Yes. Okay.

It's unmistakable. Okay. This argument, I mean, you guys are arguing about her seeing somebody, or were you guys arguing about lots of stuff? Well, that always comes into play, but this particular argument was about her not paying my mortgage for six months. I give her all my money, and I just hash my track and she pays all the bills. And lately she hasn't been paying our bills. Hey, Keith, did he get physical at all?

Or was it just arguing? Yeah, we've been physical a couple times, but I want to say Saturday night, no. You know, this is a fair question. Is there any chance that you heard her in any way? I fucking hope not, dude. I just fucking hope not. But yeah, there's a possibility. I mean, I'm hoping not.

Like I said, I don't remember shit. Me and Amber go through their shit all the time, and she always comes back. Okay. The only thing I'm worried about is she always does her fucking mom's house. She doesn't go anywhere. She does go somewhere else, but she always ends up at her mom's house. Listening carefully to Keith's account, the officer initially found him credible as he described an argument about money and Amber's alleged infidelity.

But the officer's concern grew when Keith admitted he'd been heavily intoxicated and couldn't remember if things turned physical. Suddenly, the possibility that. Amber hadn't actually walked away, became disturbingly real. Officers now suspected more clues were hidden inside the home. A drunken fight, maybe getting physical. Whatever happened, the answers were likely somewhere inside. He gave me permission.

I have on my body camera recorded it, okay? He gave me full permission to look in the house. so are these got they let them out are they generally friendly normally yes okay good just because you know did we look in there it doesn't open it doesn't look like it's been disturbed because there's debris on the top of it but we want to work on open in here yeah what's feel to see As officers continued their search, their body language indicated, something was off. Careful not to alarm the family, neither officers openly acknowledged it yet,

but they both recognized the unmistakable stench hanging in the air. The odor of decay. At this point, the only thing they were looking for was the source of that disturbing smell. No, it's just that finished off up top. You're kind of like a flash. No, it's just that. It's right here. Oh.

Whoa. Yeah. Gun? Oh. Magazine. Okay. Do you... Do we want to call?

Do we want to call someone? Yeah. Oh. Okay. Yeah. We'll have you. We'll have you stay inside, please. She's in there.

She's in there. Inside the trash can in the garage was a gun, and underneath that was Amber's decaying body with a gunshot wound to the head, discarded with the rest of the garbage. This was now a crime scene, and police immediately began to suspect that this was far from self-inflicted. But when I searched the house, my feeling was, you know, something funky.

I looked in that trash bin. Okay. There was nothing in it. Okay. What was that? When did it? I was here about 9 a.m. Okay.

There was not. I would have noticed that. Okay. The top was the carpets and because of this mail, I literally by, I'm just going to see here. There's too many forensic file. It was not there. So somebody's been here. Okay.

And the kids were sleeping and they are unaware of being here. Okay. So somebody did that. Okay. Ready? What's your first thing? Ron. Can you get kids?

Just go wait in your house. Strangely, although Betty had noticed the same foul odor of decay earlier, she didn't realize it's important. implications. Instead, believing, or perhaps choosing to believe, that all this concern was simply because of the firearm police discovered in the trash can. Betty didn't know it yet, but her statement would soon cast serious suspicion on her, making detectives question whether she herself had played a role in Amber's death. For now, though, officers had to secure the area and move Amber's family away from the gruesome scene.

So if you lift here, and obviously there's a gun there. But if you lift here, you can see her foot. She weighs about 160, 170 pounds. Right there, where your hand is. There's body. Yeah. So I called Reno. He's calling MCU, and I know he sent you too.

While officers waited for the major crimes unit to arrive and process the scene for forensic evidence, they began to grapple with several troubling inconsistencies surrounding Amber's family. Keith had admitted to being heavily intoxicated the night Amber disappeared. He couldn't say for certain whether his argument with Amber had turned violent, only that things had gotten heated and that much of the night was a blur. But Keith wasn't the only one officers considered a suspect. Amber's mother, Betty, claimed she had checked the trash. in earlier that morning and had seen no sign of Amber's body or the gun. Yet, just hours later,

both appeared right there, in plain sight, exactly where she swore she'd already searched. Even stranger to officers was Betty's demeanor. Despite the horrifying situation unfolding around her and the possibility that her daughter had taken her own life, she remained unusually calm, at times even casual. And then there was the note. Supposedly written by Amber, its wording struck investigators as strange, too composed, almost performative. Still, in a situation as dark and desperate as contemplating, people sometimes write in ways that defy logic or expectations.

At this point, everyone's stories seemed suspiciously incomplete, and anyone could be responsible in the eyes of detectives. Investigators started realizing that Amber's murder might be far more complicated than they initially. thought. So, to investigate these disturbing possibilities, police knew they'd soon need to sit down with Amber's family and carefully interview each member to uncover who might be hiding something. But before doing that, officers needed to finish one crucial step, a final thorough search of the Zotto home, carefully looking for any signs of violence or attempted cover-up. And sure enough, it didn't take long before they started noticing blood spatter,

throughout the house. So a lot of these carpet pieces, you know, I wonder if the carpet went all right back. You know, I see like spattered. I know, right? So the book was right here. It was face open with the last page showing and that bill was on top of it. You know, red pen. get blood on the light switch

we've got a lot of blood on the sink yeah so we left I mean we left it the way we found it as well too you know the way the door was when we searched but yeah she found a little bit of obvious blood in the kitchen and the sink as well too so

within minutes officers found clear evidence that something violent had occurred before Amber's body ended up in the trash can. Their first sign that foul play was likely involved. Additionally, the major crimes unit documented critical forensic evidence, including the silver revolver found over Amber's concealed body, blood spatter around the trash can, and debris deliberately placed to hide her remains. Despite these findings pointing towards foul play, detective still needed clarity on whether Amber's death was a premeditated,

act or the result of a heated argument that spiraled violently out of control. But they had two major issues preventing them from answering this crucial question. First, Keith was nowhere to be seen, and his phone had gone completely unreachable. Second, and most important, detectives had yet to determine exactly who was responsible, because at this point, several people remained under suspicion, including Amber's mother and even her own children. Police didn't know it yet, but in the coming hours, these questions, would be fully answered, and the case would take a completely unexpected turn.

So, to fill in these gaps, all of Amber's closest family members were transported to the police station for questioning. Detectives hoped they could uncover each member's potential motives, credibility, and who was hiding secrets, and finally reveal who might actually be responsible for Amber's murder. I don't want to falsely alarm you, but I also believe. leaving being as honest as we can with longed ones. We may have found Amber. No.

Yeah, but we're not. But we're not, we're not completely sure yet, we're not. I just, just do it. Just do it. We're not pointing fingers or making accusations at this time, but is there any reason Keith would hurt her? I don't know. I really don't.

I wish I could tell you more. I don't. Either accidentally or intentionally, would he hurt or kill her? If he were not mistreated her, would she protect him? She probably would. So I went out there, and I seen the letter, or the, it was a four and a half page note. And it's very important. I looked in that trash bin.

Okay. It had an ungodly trash odor. honestly. But I tried to, there's some carpet square where on the top. I tried to lift up, make sure there was nothing under it. But I don't know what I was expecting, but I did. So I absolutely looked in that bin. That'll be important. And didn't see anything that I went out. Let's talk a little bit about, I guess, the fighting and what do you, do you know why? Yeah, I do know why. Okay.

My mom, she's not good at it, I guess, and, like, so he finds out, and then they just go at it because she, like, tries to lie about it, but he has evidence of her doing it, and so, like, it's like, yeah. Okay. And the last Saturday is in just a couple days ago? Yeah, last Friday was the last time I've seen her. Okay. Did you talk to her at all on the phone or anything?

No, she came over for dinner because my grandma was cooking dinner. and she came over and then she left and then you were there on Friday all the way to Sunday. Okay. After speaking with Amber's family, investigators finally had some clarity. Betty remained adamant. She'd checked that trash can that morning, insisting that gone and Amber's body weren't there, which made her case seem more suspicious. Meanwhile, Amber's father, Ronald, was shocked by his daughter's death and found it was hard to believe

Keith was capable of harming her. As for Amber's children, Annabelle explained they'd both been staying at their grandparents' house during the weekend, clarifying why they didn't hear the gunshot that ended their mother's life. However, Annabelle's unusual calmness and detailed awareness of her parents' unstable marriage raised some concerns about exactly what else the children might know or could still be protecting. After concluding the interviews, investigators were preparing to search for Keith Zotto, the one critical piece still missing. But just before they could act, they received unexpected news from Keith's sister, Susan Russ. It turns out Keith had visited her just hours earlier, and what he confessed would finally expose the horrifying truth behind Amber's murder.

park up there, and so I got the dogs out. And I didn't know the front door was open, and he just came in, and I seen it on his face, and he goes, you know, I don't hate you. That was the first thing out of his mouth, and he said, I love you. You're my best. Okay. And then I said, it's Amber that's trying to keep us apart. Okay.

And he just looked at me, start crying, and he said, oh, my God, what do you do? Okay. And I asked him if Amber was okay. And then he looked at me and he said, you know what, I don't remember anything. Okay. I just remember waking up and seeing her up. Okay.

And he asked him, what the hell happened to tell me when he did? Okay. He said they had been drinking and biting all night. Okay. It was over money, I guess. Keep open some bills and found out that the house had been foreclosed on. Okay. And that Amber pulled out the gun, and I handed it my brother with it,

and then Keith said he took it away. And it just happened like that. He said he blinked his eyes, and that was it. He said, I bleaked my eyes through, and I opened him and I stayed her on the ground. Susan's testimony finally cleared up everything for investigators. Keith himself admitted he'd woken up from a blackout to find Amber. dead and openly acknowledged a violent confrontation that spiraled completely out of control. It was now clearer than ever that Keith Zotto was at the heart of Amber's murder,

and it was time to track him down. Just a couple of hours after detectives left Susan's house, Aurora Police received a call they never expected. Keith Zotto had surfaced at his sister's house again, ready to surrender. By now, officers knew Keith had already killed once, and for all they knew, he was still armed and dangerous, so they came prepared. A SWAT team descended upon the location, ready to take Keith down, if he made even the slightest wrong move.

It's got to be up one more. It's this one, right? 7.9 is this one. All right. It's all right. Ready, watch out, Bubba. Show me your hands! Front door, ma'am, come to me.

I see him, I see him, come to me. Come to me. Point to me, come to me. I got a guy out. Hands up, everybody hands up, please. Very good, walk to my voice. Go hands on. Stop, stop.

Just you. Just walk towards me, nice and easy. Okay, all right. We'll talk to you. No, no, we're not, we're not. We're not gonna hurt him, okay? Walk towards me. No, no, no, you go ahead.

You got him. Can you put them down? No, no, no. Just keep walking. Walk towards this guy. Very good, you good, man. Very good, very good. Very good.

They're good, right here. There you go. Yeah, good right there, man. Yes, sir. Come on guns. Yeah, feel free to go ahead of me here. It all looks warm. Rough, you just want to hold an LB pack with you.

Is that your mom and who else is the other lady? Gotcha. Okay man. Very good. We appreciate you coming out, bud. We'll explain it all to you, okay? I heard. Okay, buddy.

Okay. Okay. Okay, there you go. Remember much. Finally, after hours of uncertainty, Keith Zotto, surrendered to Aurora Police without incident. He was immediately taken into custody and formally processed for the murder of his wife, Amber. Keith would go on to admit to killing Amber late Saturday night,

claiming his gun accidentally went off during a drunken argument over money and infidelity. Though he insisted he couldn't remember placing her body in the trash or concealing the crime, Keith accepted responsibility for her death. However, Betty's earlier statement surrounding the infamous trash can remained unclear. and investigators were never able to determine why she didn't see the gun or Amber's body that morning. In May of 2021, Keith Zotto was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.