LIHUE — For weeks in 2010, Amber Jackson and her friends would gather at Kauai Pasta and enjoy a dinner date together. But one week, Jackson was absent and her friend Teri Ceplo got worried. Even the wait staff was
LIHUE — For weeks in 2010, Amber Jackson and her friends would gather at Kauai Pasta and enjoy a dinner date together.
But one week, Jackson was absent and her friend Teri Ceplo got worried. Even the wait staff was worried, asking Ceplo, “Where’s Amber?”
The group of friends inquired about the 57-year-old Jackson and discovered she was last seen alive on June 23.
Jackson’s body was found on July 3, 2010, in a dense wooded area by a Kealia pig hunter. The autopsy report indicated she died from injuries of an assault.
Six years later, her friends and family are still piecing together the puzzle of Jackson’s disappearance.
“We just want some closure,” said Ceplo, a member of the Amber Jackson Justice Group. “She was my hanai sister. We were very close. We traveled together. She was our family.”
Jackson was originally from Riverside, California, but also lived in Marin County and the Bay Area in California. She lived on the Big Island where she owned a lettuce farm, and she was a resident and homeowner on Kauai for 10 years.
A Hawaii State Teachers Association tribute to Amber says: “Her previous work with Legal Aid, Marin (County) Treatment Center, and the Marin Services for Women as well as her love of the outdoors and a sustainable Hawaii illustrate the type of person she was and why she partnered so well with our staff, members, and the community. Amber’s dedication, sense of humor, and kind ways will be missed by all who knew and cared for her.”
Members were out Wednesday posting fliers about Jackson’s disappearance.
Ceplo and members of AJJG are offering a reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Jackson’s slaying.
Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar said the case is still being investigated by the Kauai Police Department as the primary agency with some help through his office from the prosecutor-directed cold case murder unit.
“The case has never gone ‘cold’ as it has been actively investigated since it occurred,” Kollar said. “We have made resources available from Ke Ahi Pio’Ole to assist with forensic analysis and testing of evidence by specialized laboratories and outside experts.”
For more information: We Can’t Forget Amber Jackson: https://www.facebook.com/rememberingamberjackson
