Amanda “Mandi” Harms was laid to rest Wednesday, January 24, at Greenlawn Cemetery in Checotah, but her family says that they won t rest until they know what really happened to her.
Just before Mandi’s Homegoing Celebration at Lighthouse Christian Center in Eufaula, her family held a press conference in which they stated that after viewing her body they don’t know how foul play could be ruled out and they had more questions for Muskogee Police Department.
Mandi’s husband, Erik Harms, stated that they received little communication from Muskogee PD leading up to the day that Mandi was discovered dead in a backyard over three miles away from her home. In fact, Muskogee PD had only come by that very day and told the family that Amanda had been seen on video and she had made it as far as 40th and Broadway. Then less than an hour later, they returned to say that she had been found deceased and they just wanted to let the family know before it was on social media. When the family looked, the Muskogee Police Department had already posted on their social media that she was found deceased and that officers were investigating the scene.
It had been five days since Mandi had walked away from her home in Muskogee in freezing temperatures. Her mother, Shelley Townsend, had filed a missing person’s report the following day after Erik had contacted her to ask if she had heard from Mandi because she hadn’t returned home.
“Originally when this all started, we felt like the investigation was moving at a slow pace,” Erik said. “However, we had the benefit of a doubt that investigators were moving forward and doing what needed to be done. When we were notified that she was found deceased on Thursday, Jan. 18, we weren’t given any information of how it happened or what had occurred.”
Erik stated that during the time of her disappearance he had turned off his social media and hadn’t been watching any news but decided to look at an article to find out what police were saying about the case.
“I saw that the police made a statement that no foul play was involved. So we requested a meeting with the investigators at Muskogee Police Department to give us details of what had actually happened, where she was found, and all the information from this. So both Shelley and I met with them on Friday, the 19th and they went through the steps of their investigation and what they found.”
Through those steps what should have calmed their nerves only made them question everything more. Why had the police told them that Amanda was seen at 40th and Broadway but they didn’t tell them that she had flagged down a vehicle and gotten into the vehicle? Why weren’t they told that police had found some of her clothing on Tuesday at a stranger’s house?
“They said they received a tip on Tuesday the 16th,” Erik said. “And that Mandi had left her coat, hat and gloves in a house that didn’t have any heat,” Erik said. “The investigator made a comment that when he stepped in there on Tuesday that it was pretty much the same temperature inside as it was outside. So when he picked up the hat, coat and gloves, I asked him did they search the house or take any other evidence that Mandi was actually at that house and they said no. And then they came back and said that getting a warrant may be tough…Then the lead investigator said remember at this time it was just a missing person and no crime had been committed. So even though Mandi had been missing for three days it was not enough to ask for permission to search the house.”
Mandi’s husband went on to state that apparently Mandi had run out of the house where she had been and she appeared to be frantic as she ran across the street to another house and began knocking on the door. The people heard the knock on the door but did not answer; then she went running to the back yard, dropping her sock and her boot which were found several feet away from where she was found days later with some of her clothing caught in the fence.
“Because they said no signs of foul play, we were going to wait on the medical examiner’s report to conclude the cause of death but we were told that the medical examiner’s report has to wait on the toxicology report which could take four months or even possibly longer,” Erik said. “And they do not release any information to us and we’ve also been told that they don’t release any information to the police until this is completed.”
“The reason this is so urgent is because we finally got to see her for the first time and there are definite signs of trauma. She had a cut, split eyelid; her upper lip was completely split, and bruising all throughout her face. Her nose was broken and we don’t know for sure, but her orbital bone around her eye socket could have been broken and there were definitely cuts, scrapes all along her hands and other signs of trauma that we won’t get into. I just don’t know how the investigators could say there are no signs of foul play. As a family we definitely feel like this needs to be investigated more.”
Mandi’s mom stated that they wouldn’t let this go until they have more answers and she hopes the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations will look into the case.
“We just want the truth,” Townsend cried. “As a mother I couldn’t even bear to look at my daughter in the condition that she was left in and I can’t imagine the last few hours of her life and what she went through.”
After the family’s statements and concerns appeared on television, the Muskogee Police Department issued a press release the following day, Jan.24, stating that they had received a preliminary report via phone call from the Medical Examiner’s Office in reference to Amanda Harms’ case and that the following information was obtained from that conversation.
• No lethal trauma
• No sexual assault trauma
• Abrasions and scratches on her face and extremities that were consistent with where and how her body was located
• Hypothermia cannot be ruled out as a cause of death
• No foul play is suspected • The initial toxicology report detected no elicit substances other than alcohol and benzodiazepines in her system. (Detected NOT confirmed.) These results will not be confirmed until the toxicology report comes back from the lab.
The release went on to state that these were the initial findings but that the official Medical Examiner’s report and cause of death are still pending.
