The body found on a remote Nebraska road Friday is believed to be that of a mother missing since late last month.
The remains were found near a vehicle belonging to Amber Tjaden, 48, who’s been missing since Jan. 27, according to a release from the Otoe County Sheriff’s Office, KMTV reported Saturday. Otoe County sits about 54 miles south of Omaha.
It is with a heavy heart that I share that my mom’s car was found and she was found nearby and has passed on.
To everyone who contributed in the efforts to locate my mom:
Thank you for all of your help, my family is very grateful for everyone who has banded together. All of the social media attention is what helped get her car identified and get her found. Remember this the next time you see a post for a missing person – spreading the word as much as possible really does help.
To all of my mom’s current and former students:
She loved teaching and helping shape the lives of young people, she loved to make a difference. She believed in you all, believe in yourselves and carry on her memory and her legacy by staying in school, striving to do your best, and be the wonderful and successful people she knew you could be.
To the professionals who helped with this case- The Cass County Sherrif’s Department, Omaha Police, Nebraska Patrol, and Otoe Sheriff’s Department:
Thank you for your ceaseless efforts and for your dedication to my family. Thank you for your sensitivity, determination, and professionalism. Thank you for finding my mom – even though the circumstances aren’t what I was hoping for – I am very grateful she was found.
A special thank you to Tony Hemmer for being available 24/7 and for being so devoted to this case.
To friends who have reached out:
Thank you for your kind words and thoughts through this difficult, terrible time. Thank you for your support and for reaching out, I appreciate it and so does my family.
Thank you for your kind messages about my mom and for your stories, they are very comforting. It’s nice to hear that she was widely loved.
To my mom:
I will love you forever. You lived for your kids, you were a fantastic mother. You did everything for us. You were my best friend, I talked to you everyday, I told you everything. It will take a long time for me to not reach for the phone at the end of each day to call you and see how you are and tell you about my day. I could rely on you for everything and anything. You gave me advice, wiped my tears, always knew what to say.
I wanted you to be at my wedding some day, I wanted you to hold your grandkids. I did not know that “goodbye” on the phone the night before was going to be a true goodbye.
A year ago you helped me when I was hurting. I am so, so sorry that I could not do the same for you. I will keep my promise, even though you could not keep yours. I will live for you, and you will live on with me. You were, are, and always will be so, so loved. 💜
The identification has yet to be confirmed, pending an autopsy, but her father, former Mayor Jim Suttle, told the outlet he believes the remains belong to Tjaden.
Her daughter, Savannah Suttle, took to Facebook Saturday afternoon to express a similar belief.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share my mom’s car was found and she was found nearby and has passed on,” wrote the younger Suttle, thanking those who worked to locate Tjaden, including the investigators, and those who reached out.
“Thank you for all of your help, my family is very grateful for everyone who has banded together,” she continued, crediting the discovery with “all of the social media attention. … Remember this the next time you see a post for a missing person — spreading the word as much as possible really does help.
Suttle thanked people for their “kind messages” about Tjaden and their “comforting stories,” noting, “It’s nice to hear that she was widely loved.”
She encouraged students of the Metro Community College educator to “carry on her memory and her legacy by staying in school, striving to do your best.
“To my mom: I will love you forever. … You were my best friend, I talked to you everyday, I told you everything,” she wrote. “A year ago you helped me when I was hurting. I am so, so sorry that I could not do the same for you.”
Tjaden’s husband, Matthew Tjaden, 38, allegedly took his sons, 10 and 11, with him while fleeing authorities.
The day after his wife disappeared, he was arrested for flight to avoid arrest, child abuse and resisting arrest.
In 2015, Amber filed a domestic abuse protection order against her allegedly “angry, violent and verbally abusive” husband, who she claimed was “loading his shot gun and on his way to shoot me” the month prior.
Former Mayor Suttle is looking after the two young boys now.
