Terrifying timeline of the “Womb Raiders” who “murdered a pregnant mother and cut out her fetus before setting her body on fire”
A PREGNANT mother was abducted by a woman who planned to claim the unborn child, according to court records.
Now a Missouri couple is being charged in the horrifying deaths of pregnant mother Ashley Bush and their unborn baby girl.
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Amber and Jamie Waterman, both 42, have been charged in connection with the kidnapping and alleged assassination of Bush.
Bush was 31 weeks pregnant and a mother of three at the time of her tragic death.
Her fiancé and family are heartbroken as new details about the tragedy emerge.
CURRENT FEES
Amber Waterman has been charged with one count of kidnapping resulting in death, court documents show.
The documents allege that she “unlawfully and intentionally abducted, abducted, carried away and held Ashley Bush to claim Ashley Bush’s child as (her).”
Waterman also took her victim Bush across state lines from Arkansas to Missouri.
Jamie Waterman is accused of complicity in this deadly kidnapping. The documents indicate that he helped Amber kidnap and kill her.
October 25, 2022: CAT FISHING
On Oct. 25, Amber Waterman allegedly created a fake Facebook under the name of Lucy Barrows, News 5 reported.
The alleged intention of this report was that Amber could gain Bush’s trust and capture her so she could steal the mother’s unborn child.
Bush’s fiancé, Josh Willis, said the pregnancy had complications.
“Because Ashley is pregnant, she had complications with that pregnancy and the doctor took her off work,” he said during her absence.
As a result, Bush began the hunt for remote work on a mom Facebook group.
Just days after this account was created, on October 28, Bush and her fiancé met the fake “Lucy” at the public library.
During that meeting, Amber Waterman, under the guise of “Lucy,” mentioned to the couple that she was getting rid of baby items that could come in handy for her growing family.
Willis was reportedly concerned about the situation as “Lucy” gave Bush a stack of paperwork and the company would contact her for additional verification.
As part of the hiring process, Bush was told she would have to travel to Bentonville, Arkansas, with Lucy to speak with the boss in person.
October 31, 2022: DISAPPEARED
Willis reportedly dropped his fiancé off at a handi-mart in Maysville, Arkansas, on Halloween morning to meet up with Lucy.
At 3:00 p.m. that afternoon he picked up Bush, having received a text message from her that she was in Gravette.
He said when he picked her up that day, “All I saw was her and the lady she was driving with, both passing me, neither stopped, the driver looked at me and drove on,” according to News 5.
As he tried to follow the truck, he got lost on the freeway and his family began a desperate search for the lost wife.
“We spent the whole night trying to text her, call her and get her to answer.”
The family contacted the company, who said no “Lucy” worked there at all.
That same day, the family determined the location using GPS services on Bush’s phone, which led them to a ditch about half a mile from where he last saw his fiancee.
According to arrest records, Amber Waterman told authorities she had been at home with her own son and another child all Halloween when she went into labor.
She called 911 and met an ambulance at a Missouri store. She later told authorities she had given birth to a stillborn child.
McDonald County Sheriff Evenson told KOAM that his team responded to a report of a newborn baby not breathing air this Monday night.
While a medical helicopter was on standby, emergency medical services reached Amber and the baby but were unable to revive the child.
BJ Goodwin, the McDonald County coroner, was reportedly called to pick up the baby and take him to an area funeral home.
He explained that Amber reportedly had the placenta from birth in her pants when medical services arrived, and this led Jamie to believe she really did deliver the child, News 5 reported.
According to Goodwin, Amber allegedly refused medical treatment, and Amber had her placenta removed.
Using his coroner’s expertise, Goodwin speculated that the baby appeared to have been “cut out” of the womb, according to the outlet.
November 1, 2022: QUESTIONS
On November 1, the Watermans were questioned for the first time by detectives, who searched their home and truck with the couple’s permission.
The truck reportedly matched the description of the vehicle in which Bush was last seen alive.
Detectives requested Amber’s phone, and she reportedly told them it was lost.
She told investigators that she didn’t know Bush and that she knew “Lucy Barrows” from her work at Walmart, but they weren’t closely related, court filings say.
That same day, the Watermans traveled to the undertaker’s to erect a memorial for the baby, to be performed the next day.
Her remains would be cremated, according to Goodwin.
November 2, 2022: MEMORIAL CEREMONY
A memorial service for the little girl was scheduled for the afternoon of November 2nd.
That morning, the Benton County coroner called Goodwin to request a DNA sample from the baby.
Coroner Goodwin was reluctant, saying the suspicion was “far-fetched” and that the Watermans allegedly said Amber had suffered four miscarriages, so the whole ordeal left her “emotionally upset,” according to News 5.
He suspects that the couple tried to get rid of Bush’s body that same day.
Goodwin said, “They cleaned up after burning and disposing of her body and turned up for a funeral.”
While the funeral didn’t raise suspicion, even with fewer than 12 people present, Goodwin claims it was for a “beautiful” baby and a show performed by a “cold-blooded killer” who was a “good actor.”
The Benton County coroner arrived at the end of the memorial service to perform an autopsy on the infant before cremation, which Goodwin says changed the couple’s entire attitude.
Amber reportedly asked several times if DNA testing would be included in the autopsy, and Jamie “got up and ran out of the funeral home” when he heard it would, according to Goodwin.
The Watermans even decided on a name for the little girl and named her Dakota.
Goodwin called the entire ordeal, “Hands down the craziest things I’ve dealt with as a coroner in 16 years.”
November 3, 2022: CONFESSION
The Waterman’s vehicle was impounded from her home on November 3 with a warrant.
Investigators found blood inside the vehicle.
Jamie was also interrogated that day.
Court documents say Jamie confessed to detectives that Amber told him after his initial questioning on November 1 that she had murdered Bush and then quickly changed her story to blame “Lucy” for the crime.
The records also state that Amber had shown Jamie Bush’s body on November 1 and that the dead woman had been placed near her home by a boat and covered with a blue tarp.
After removing a ring from Bush’s finger, Amber allegedly rolled her body onto the tarp, and Jamie followed by dragging the remains to a fire pit behind her house.
The couple reportedly cremated the body, placed it in the back of Jamie’s pickup truck, and then drove down the street to hide Bush’s remains.
The Watermans were then arrested.
November 4, 2022: IN COURT
At their first court appearance on November 4, the Watermans were assigned a public defender for their case.
A federal prosecutor ordered that they be held without bail pending trial.
The couple, who were booked into the Green County, Missouri jail on Nov. 4, are being held there, according to the U.S. Marshals Outlet.
The court hearing is on November 9 and they are in federal custody in the meantime.
Their cases are being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys and were initially investigated by the FBI and several local law enforcement agencies.
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https://www.the-sun.com/news/6616072/ashley-bush-death-timeline-amber-jamie-waterman-court/ Terrifying timeline of the “Womb Raiders” who “murdered a pregnant mother and cut out her fetus before setting her body on fire”