Amy Hooper grew up in a household with sisters eight and ten years ahead of her, who were all mothered greatly. She eventually grew into adulthood and started working at Bermans Leather in Westland Mall, a job which she loved, and never missed a day of, or was late to. She had an abundance of friends and often partied at a West Side Bar named Coconuts. She was a white woman who exclusively dated a lot of black men in the year 1992, which was a less tolerant time. She eventually moved out of her mother’s house, and bought an apartment at 4942 Medfield Way, Columbus, Ohio, on February 17th, 1992. She was murdered soon after she moved into her apartment.
A week prior to 20-year-old Amy Hooper’s murder, she borrowed her mother’s car in order to visit her boyfriend, who lived in Bowling Green. He gave her a diamond ring that weekend, which she put on her left hand. She later returned to Columbus on Sunday, March 8th, 1992, and hung out with friends. The next day on March 9th, at 6:30 AM she returned to her mother’s house to return her car. The two talked for awhile until Amy had to leave because she had a meeting at work. She borrowed her sister’s car for the day and left.
At around 1:00 PM Amy’s friends and co-workers began calling each other in order to figure out where she was, since she hadn’t shown up to work that day. At around 3:30 PM Amy’s mother was called, about Amy being missing from work. She later called Amy’s father to tell him about Amy’s disappearance. The two parents agreed to meet at Amy’s apartment, and they both arrive there at around 4:00 PM. Amy doesn’t answer the door for her parents, and a maintenance worker later has to escort Amy’s father into the apartment, where they discovered Amy Hooper’s body on the floor of an upstairs room. The police are called within the same hour, on March 9th, 1992 at 4:21 PM, to report Amy Hooper’s murder.
Investigators found Amy’s body, whose murder was described as brutal and full of rage. Her body had been stabbed and her skull had been cracked from blunt-force trauma. A knife was recovered by investigators at the scene, but the weapon used for blunt-force trauma has never been found. Her naked body was also purposefully displayed face-up on the hardwood floor of her apartment. Her hands were loosely bound with a wood and leather heart-shaped medallion, which was painted in the colors of the African flag. It’s unknown if this was brought to the scene by the murderer, or if it was something that Amy already had in her apartment. There were no signs of forced entry inside of her apartment, and there were also no signs of a struggle, although, a telephone cord was reportedly ripped from the wall. The DNA of the attacker was also found at the scene.
Amy had already taken a shower by the time of the murder. Amy’s plastic pink carryall which held her hair brushes and makeup were open on the bedroom floor. Her pull-out sofa, which she used as a bed, was open, with her electric blanket still on. Her hair dryer was also still plugged in. The ring bought by her boyfriend was still on her finger.
Police believe that Amy knew her murderer, but all potential suspects, including former boyfriends, old friends, former co-workers, and local sex offenders, were cleared. Amy’s current boyfriend was also cleared, and her roommate passed a lie-detector test. It didn’t seem to police that there was a logical reason for somebody to hurt Amy. This lack of suspects eventually led to the case becoming cold, and to this day the case remains unsolved.
A reward of $5,000 was offered for information that can lead to an arrest or an indictment in the murder of Amy Hooper. You can submit an anonymous tip to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at http://stopcrime.org/submit-a-tip/.
SOURCES
http://www.dispatch.com/article/20091213/NEWS/312139646
https://www.10tv.com/article/weapon-never-found-19-year-case
http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Law-Enforcement/Investigator/Cold-Case/Homicides/Hooper
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