IDAHO FALLS — Amber Shawnelle Hoopes disappeared from her grandparent’s Idaho Falls home on Sept. 14, 2001.

     The suspect identified in connection with her case, Keith Glenn Hescock, a tool salesman, shot and killed himself following a shootout with police at the end of a 40-mile pursuit through Heise, Kelly Canyon and then into Madison County nine months after Hoopes disappeared.

    Police were waiting for Hescock when he returned home after a 14-year-old girl that he had kidnapped earlier that June morning managed to escape from his house and led police to his residence.

    The girl was sleeping outside on a trampoline at her rural Bonneville County home with her sister when Hescock abducted her. The sister, who was unharmed, slept through the kidnapping.

    Hescock, 41, was also the suspect in the disappearance of 9-year-old Stephanie Crane of Custer County. Crane went missing in 1993.

    According to news reports, Hescock high-centered his Mac Tool truck during the June 2002 chase and then took off on foot. An apprehension canine was deployed and Hescock shot and killed the animal. Hescock was wounded twice before he turned his weapon on himself. A law enforcement officer was also shot in the leg during the chase.

    Hoopes’ mother, Hevenlee, said the family suspected that Hescock was responsible for Amber’s disappearance as soon as she was found missing.

    “They said (Hescock) had an alibi, and they started looking at someone else, but it turns out his family had lied for him,” Hevenlee said.

Amber’s grandparents, Norris and Kathleen Burgener, own and operate Classic Auto Collision Center on Lincoln Road. Amber lived with Norris and Kathleen and was abducted from the family’s home adjacent to the auto shop.

      Hescock had been employed as a painter at the shop, and he butted heads with Norris frequently.

    “They just didn’t get along very well, ever,” Hevenlee said.

    Hevenlee said, initially, police believed that Amber had simply ran away.

    But her family didn’t buy it. Amber, who was 20 at the time of her disappearance, was extremely shy and didn’t like to go anywhere by herself.

    “She did not run away,” Hevenlee said. “If the police would have listened to us in the beginning, maybe we would have gotten her back — probably not alive, but we would have her body.”

    On the night she disappeared, Amber used the computer in the shop and then told her grandparents “good night” just after 10 p.m. and went to her room. Katherine woke up at about 1:30 a.m. and noticed that Amber’s lights and television were still on, but she was missing.

    Katherine woke Norris and together they searched the house and shop but found no sign of Amber. During the search of the shop, they discovered the company truck was missing. They called the bag phone in the truck, but got no answer and immediately notified police.

    The truck was later found within two miles of the shop on Lincoln Road.

    “That’s probably how he took her out of there,” Hevenlee said. “It would have to have been someone who knew the shop, knew where the power door opener and the lights were.”

    Amber worked as a nanny and was especially close to her younger sister, Jade Hoopes. Hevenlee described Amber as funny, silly and devoted to the children she cared for.

    She was also an accomplished singer. Amber sang with the Sunshine Singers from the time she was four and was a member of the Bonneville Bonavaires.

    Bonneville County Detective Eric Southwick said similarities between Amber’s case and that of the 14-year-old girl who escaped from Hescock’s home indicate that Hescock was responsible for her disappearance, but with no body and little physical evidence, the case is still considered an active investigation.

    Southwick said he spends time every week working cold cases. He follows new leads and reviews the files regularly.

    He said that police were convinced early on that Amber was not a runaway.

    Dozens of employees, relatives, friends and members of the community searched the area around Lincoln Road and the foothills surrounding Bonneville County for weeks, but Amber’s body was never recovered.

    The family held a memorial service for Amber on the one-year anniversary of her disappearance.

    “The first year was just a blur. The only way we got through it was our faith — being able to lean on each other — and support from the community,” Hevenlee said. “People were so wonderful, so caring to our family. We don’t need Amber’s body. We know where she is, and we know that we’ll see her again.”

    Hevenlee described Hescock as weird, but likable. She is still Facebook friends with one member of his family, and she believes Hescock’s death provided closure in the case.

    “He’s gone. He can’t hurt anyone else. He terrorized his family as well, and he’s out of the picture. He can’t hurt them either,” Hevenlee said.