Family, friends and even people that didn’t know “Mandi” showed up at a vigil Monday night held in Muskogee for the former Muskogee teacher who was found dead after going missing for five days back in January. Several wore black shirts that stated Justice For Mandi –Amanda’s Life Mattered.
On Jan. 13 Harms had called Muskogee police to have her husband removed from her home approximately one hour before she went missing. However, when police arrived at the home, they informed Harms that they could not make her husband leave. So Harms went to her room and locked her door. Less than an hour later she would walk away from her home and never return.
After five days of the family searching desperately for any signs of Harms, police told her family that she had been seen on video flagging down an individual who did stop and pick her up. However, less than two hours later the police would return to tell the family that her body had been found over three miles away in the backyard of another individual’s home.
Since then the family has had several meetings with Muskogee PD trying to find more answers to their questions but instead they walk out with more questions and concerns.
Monday night’s vigil marked two months since Harms was found deceased.
“Two months ago today, Mandi was found but it’s like for me, life has stopped,” Harms’ mother, Shelley Townsend said as she struggled to choke back tears.
Though Harms was laid to rest January 24 at Greenlawn Cemetery in Checotah, her family says they can’t rest until they know what really happened to her.
“After viewing her body we just don’t know how foul play could be ruled out since Mandi had a broken nose, a split lip and eyebrow and bruising on her hands that seemed to be defense wounds, “Townsend said. “We also have spoken to the man who went to the police on the Tuesday before she was found. He told them he had picked her up and taken her to his home. However, he says he left her there while he went to a friend’s house to get a shower because he didn’t have hot water. He claims that when he returned, Mandi was gone but her left behind her jacket and a few other things. Why would she leave her jacket behind when it was freezing outside? Then police supposedly came on Tuesday and retrieved those items and two days later Mandi was found across the street dead. Why didn’t they search the area?”
“We just have so many questions and nothing adds up. We just want the truth. “
A family friend, Gena Cooper has started a Facebook page, Justice for Amanda Harms, in hopes of finding out more details about Mandi’s death. It currently it has 3,500 concerned citizens who are supporting the family.
“We won’t stop searching for the truth,” Cooper said. “Somebody knows something.”
Media sources reached out to Muskogee PD about the vigil but they have not responded. Their last release stated there was no foul play, and no lethal trauma or no sexual assault trauma.
The official Medical Examiner’s report and cause of death are still pending.
