Amanda Kay Jones: The Unsolved Disappearance

When an unsolved crime happens in a small town where everyone knows one another, rumors run rampant. This gossip can be very damaging to a someone’s reputation. Then again, sometimes a person(s) doesn’t do themselves any favors and only makes the suspicion much worse.

Hillsboro, Missouri is a little quaint town consisting of fewer than 2,500 people in 2004 and has a very low crime rate, so when a 26-year-old single mother who was expecting her second child unexpectedly disappears, it had the community in shambles. Family and friends were expecting immediate results and to them, the answer was obvious. 13 years later, the case still remains unsolved.

Amanda Kay Jones was a single mother of a four-year-old daughter, Hannah, from her ex-husband, Jeffrey Jones. Their marriage only lasted between 1999-2000, but they didn’t officially divorce until 2002. Amanda, who had custody of her daughter, was working as a loan administrator at Eagle Bank in Festus, Missouri, to provide for her family.

In December 2004, Amanda’s place of employment was hosting a Christmas company party, where she met a Bryan Lee Westfall, a computer instructor at Jefferson College and a volunteer groundskeeper at the Hillsboro Civic Center, who was bartending for the gathering. The two struck up a conversation and immediately hit it off.

They soon began dating but the relationship ended as quickly as it began. The two went their separate ways until February 2005, when Amanda contacted Brian to inform him she was pregnant. When Bryan was confronted with the news he rejected the notion and told her he would pay for an abortion if need be. Amanda, appalled by his view, declined and said she would raise the child on her own. That’s when Bryan stated he wanted to have no more contact with her.

From that point onward the two had no reported contact with each other until the middle of August 2005. Meanwhile, Amanda focused on raising her daughter and preparing for the birth of her newborn, which she planned to name Hayden Lucas, along with taking care of her health because she was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease — an illness that causes your thyroid to be overactive and overproduce hormones.

Amanda was planning to raise her baby on her own, so when she unexpectedly received a phone call from Bryan in the early morning hours on Sunday, August 14, 2005, she was surprised. Bryan asked if she would like to meet up at the Hillsboro Community Civic Center to discuss the baby and to possibly grab lunch at the seafood restaurant, “Off the Hook.” Amanda, hoping Bryan wanted to be apart of the child’s life, accepted the invitation, and said she would meet him at 1:00 p.m. after church services with her family, Bertha and Hugh Propst, and her daughter.

Once church services concluded, Amanda dropped her daughter off with her parents and said she would be back soon. Thereafter, she made a quick stop to Walgreens to buy a soda and hairspray before meeting up with Bryan at approximately 1:00 p.m. The two reportedly spoke for an hour, and during their conversation, Amanda received a phone call from a relative at 1:16 p.m., to which the family member claimed Amanda sounded agitated and said she was unable to speak at the moment. Not too long after, Amanda said she had to use the restroom, and that’s when the two parted ways, as Bryan went back to work around the Civic Center.

This is where the timeline of events start to become muddled.

At around 5:00 p.m. Amanda’s family started to grow concerned because they felt she should have been home already, or at the very least make contact with them to let them know she was okay. With numerous failed attempts to reach Amanda on her cell phone, her sister, Carrie Propst went to her residence to see if she was home, but to no avail.

Bertha subsequently called Bryan to see if Amanda was with him but he said he last saw her at approximately 2:00 p.m. after he dropped her off back to her car after their lunch date. Shortly thereafter, Bryan called Bertha and said he wasn’t being truthful — and he and Amanda never went out to eat, and after conversing for an hour the two split ways, but as he was leaving the premises at 4:00 p.m. he noticed her still sitting in her car speaking on her cell phone.

The news from Bryan didn’t sit right with Amanda’s family. They couldn’t imagine she would sit in her vehicle, which had a broken air conditioner, in the middle of the summer heat; especially since she was 8 1/2 months pregnant. Amanda’s family decided to see if she was at the Hillsboro Civic Center. When they arrived, they found her blue 1997 Pontiac Sunfire abandoned with her purse inside and her doors unlocked. Amanda, her cell phone, keys, and wallet were nowhere to be found.

The police were soon called and an investigation quickly ensued. Bryan was brought in for questioning, and he initially was cooperative. However, the police considered his story suspicious because he gave Bertha conflicting statements as to his whereabouts with Amanda. Additionally, the police obtained Amanda’s phone records and noticed she was last active on her phone at 1:16 p.m. when a relative called instead of 4:00 p.m. like Bryan claimed. Despite Bryan’s inconsistent story, he hasn’t officially been named a suspect in Amanda’s disappearance, and he and his girlfriend at the time subsequently acquired a lawyer and has been quiet ever since.

As the investigation continued the police didn’t have much to go on. They proceeded to speak with Amanda’s ex-husband, and he was very cooperative and did whatever he could to help assist. With a lack of witnesses and possible reported sightings, they kept an eye on hospitals in the surrounding areas to see if anyone resembling Amanda had given birth, but this was a fruitless effort. All the police could do was speak to local residents and hope for a miracle. Cases like the unsolved disappearance of Linda Sherman, another Missouri woman who vanished under suspicious circumstances, illustrate how these investigations can stall without physical evidence or witness cooperation.

Meanwhile, Amanda’s ex-husband, Jeffrey Jones gained custody of his daughter, Hannah. It wasn’t an easy adjustment; Hannah was confused about the drastic change and didn’t understand why her mother had suddenly vanished from her life. Two years later, Jeffrey unexpectedly passed away. This was another devastating loss to Hannah, and she went back to the care of her grandparents. Even though Hannah faced an unbelievable amount of turmoil and stress at such an early age, she had a strong support system and her family did the best they could to nurture her.

It’s now 2019, and Amanda Kay Jones has been missing for thirteen years, and there has yet to be any positive update(s) on her whereabouts. As for Hannah, she is now a senior in high school and on the dance team. Despite having many tribulations in her life, her grandparents have raised her with love and made sure she had a fulfilling life — even though she still has a gaping hole in her heart that only her mother and baby brother can fill. Nonetheless, Hannah continues to persevere and has ambitions to become a pediatric nurse.

It’s unclear what truly happened to Amanda Jones. Her friends and family are adamant that Bryan Westfall is involved somehow. The police still consider him a person of interest and have even searched two properties that he owns, but nothing substantial came from their probe. With a lack of evidence and cooperation, they are unable to do anything besides continue their search and hope somebody comes forward with pivotal information. The dynamics between Amanda and Bryan — particularly his rejection of the pregnancy and desire to cut contact — bear similarities to cases like the unsolved murder of Lacey Gaines, where intimate partner conflict preceded violence. As forensic technology advances, including techniques like genetic genealogy that have solved other cold cases, there is still hope that new developments could bring answers to Amanda’s family. Until then, the case remains unsolved.

Sources

• Amanda Kay Jones — The Charley Project
• FBI — Missing Persons Poster Database
• Hillsboro, Missouri — Local News Coverage
• Amanda Jones Case — Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to Amanda Kay Jones?

Amanda Kay Jones, a 26-year-old pregnant mother from Hillsboro, Missouri, disappeared on August 14, 2005, after meeting Bryan Lee Westfall at the Hillsboro Civic Center. Her car was found abandoned with her purse inside, but Amanda, her phone, keys, and wallet were never recovered. The case remains unsolved.

Who is Bryan Lee Westfall in the Amanda Jones case?

Bryan Lee Westfall was the father of Amanda’s unborn child. He was the last known person to see Amanda alive on August 14, 2005, and gave conflicting statements to her family and police about the timeline of events that day. He remains a person of interest but has never been officially named a suspect.

Was Amanda Kay Jones ever found?

No. As of 2026, Amanda Kay Jones has never been found, and no remains or definitive evidence of her fate have been recovered. She was eight and a half months pregnant at the time of her disappearance.

What happened to Amanda Jones’s daughter Hannah?

After Amanda’s disappearance, her ex-husband Jeffrey Jones gained custody of Hannah. When Jeffrey unexpectedly passed away two years later, Hannah was raised by her maternal grandparents, Bertha and Hugh Propst, who provided a loving and stable home for her.

How can I help with the Amanda Kay Jones case?

Anyone with information about the disappearance of Amanda Kay Jones is encouraged to contact the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office or the FBI. Even small details that may seem insignificant could help investigators piece together what happened on August 14, 2005.