Roy Neugebauer has spent the past year trying to let go of a haunting memory.
The last time he saw his daughter, Amber Wilson, was at 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday evening last May, when he dropped her off near the downtown social housing building where she rented a room.
“Really, I never thought twice about it,” he said. “She had a room here, she had friends here. I’ve dropped her off here many times before.”
Neugebauer recalled his daughter was sad that night.
“She hated her addiction. She hated what she had to do for drugs.”
Roy Neugebauer says he dropped his daughter off in downtown Edmonton on May 15, 2016. She hasn’t been seen since. (Rick Bremness/CBC )
In a halting voice, Neugebauer admitted his daughter was addicted to crack cocaine and was prostituting herself to pay for drugs.
“She couldn’t wait to get help,” he said. “She wanted to go into a rehab. Unfortunately, it never happened in time.”
Wilson promised to call her father in an hour. She didn’t. Surveillance video showed she never made it inside her building.
‘There’s no trace of her’
On the one-year anniversary of Wilson’s May 15, 2016, disappearance, police and Wilson’s family went back to the spot near 100th Avenue and 102nd Street where she was last seen, to make a public appeal for help.
Const. Shelley Pinch with the missing persons unit admitted police have no leads.
“You know, she basically vanished from the area and there’s no trace of her,” Pinch said. “We don’t know what has happened to her. We’re hoping with the help of the public we’ll be able to figure things out.”
Wilson’s mother thinks someone can provide vital information about the disappearance.
“We really want to find our little girl,” Marty Juknevic said. “Because we do miss her very much. She was our only daughter. We just want to know where she is. We need to know, we want to know.”
Marty Juknevic speaks to Edmonton reporters Monday, making a plea for information about her missing daughter. (Rick Bremness/CBC )
Wilson was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 17. Her mother said Wilson would suffer seizures if she went without her medication for more than a couple of days. But in the past year, Wilson’s prescriptions have not been renewed, and no one has been admitted to hospital suffering from seizures who matched Wilson’s description.
Juknevic said her daughter always made a point of contacting at least one member of the family each day. She said it would be out of character for her daughter, who had a form of autism diagnosed as Asperger’s syndrome, to remain out of touch for an entire year.
Juknevic said she fears the worst.
“Something’s happened to her and we need to know. We just want to know where she is and please bring her home, one way or the other.
“Give her some peace. Give us peace.”