'We just want to bring Amanda home': Father of missing Monrovia woman asks for help
MONROVIA, Calif. - The father of a Monrovia woman, whose jailed boyfriend is suspected of assaulting and abducting her, joined authorities this morning in asking for the public's help in locating the 31-year-old single mom.
Father of missing Monrovia woman asking public’s help to locate her
The father of a woman who's been missing for ten day is now pleading for the public's help in finding her. Investigators suspect an abusive former boyfriend is connected to Amanda Custer's disappearance. Stephanie Stanton is live with the latest.
Sheriff's homicide investigators believe Amanda Kathleen Custer was taken against her will the morning of July 29 by her boyfriend, Robert Anthony Camou, from his Monrovia home in the 600 block of Vaquero Road and placed in
the trunk of a Toyota Prius.
Sheriff's detectives say blood was found in the Monrovia residence, and blood drops were found in the cargo hatch of the Prius, along with a digging tool.
Camou, 27, was taken into custody in downtown Los Angeles on July 30, following a nearly five-hour standoff, but there was no sign of Custer. He'sbeing held without bail.
At a news conference at the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau, Lt. Scott Hoglund displayed a map of areas in the Mt. Baldy and Lytle Creek areas where the suspect was believed to have driven in the gray 2017 Prius between the time of the alleged abduction and his capture.
"It is such a broad area that we desperately need the community's assistance in trying to pinpoint a location of where this Prius may have been," Hoglund said.
Rick Custer appealed for anyone with information to call authorities.
"I've gone up there a couple of times myself, up to Lytle Creek-- no results,'' he said. ``Some other family members have been out there -- no results. We just want to bring Amanda home."
Sheriff's investigators last week expanded their search to include the area of Lytle Creek because Camou is believed to have great knowledge of the area, which is in the San Gabriel Mountains about 16 miles northwest of San Bernardino. They said Camou's car was spotted -- shortly after the alleged kidnapping -- traveling north on Padua Road in Claremont toward Mount Baldy.
Sheriff's officials previously asked to hear from anyone who may have seen Camou in a downtown Los Angeles bar the night of July 29. Cellphone video from the bar shows Camou during an open-mic event, singing an expletive-laden rap about killing a woman.
Related:
- Police search for woman assaulted, possibly kidnapped in Monrovia domestic violence case
- Detectives investigating kidnapping out of Monrovia
- Man suspected of assaulting, kidnapping girlfriend arrested, search for missing woman continues
- Video appears to show Monrovia kidnapping suspect rap about killing, burying girlfriend
Sheriff's investigators last week expanded their search to include the area of Lytle Creek because Camou is believed to have great knowledge of the area, which is in the San Gabriel Mountains about 16 miles northwest of San Bernardino, according to authorities.
Sheriff's officials said on July 31 that Camou's car was spotted -- shortly after the alleged kidnapping -- traveling north on Padua Road in Claremont toward Mount Baldy.
"Anyone on or off road, in the area of Mount Baldy -- Mount Baldy Road, Glendora Ridge Road, Glendora Mountain Road -- on Monday ... between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., that observed suspect Camou, victim Custer and/or the
Toyota Prius, are encouraged to contact Sheriff's Homicide Bureau," Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez of the Sheriff's Information Bureau said in a statement.
Camou is being held without bail.
Anyone with information about Custer's whereabouts was urged to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS or online.
FOX LA's Stephanie Stanton contributed to this report.