Family of Huron County mother missing for 5 years demands answers

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The Cleveland Family Center for Missing Children and Adults announced an increase in the reward offered for information leading to the whereabouts of a Huron County mother of four missing now for five years and seven months.

Amanda Dean, a victim of domestic abuse according to her family, was reported missing on July 11, 2017. Her mother Caroline Tokar and sister Shannon Dean tell 19 News there have been no reported sightings of Amanda and she hasn’t called family or friends. Her family says that’s uncharacteristic of the loving and outgoing mother, sister and daughter who always put family first.

By leaving, Dean has not seen her four children, some of whom now have her grandchildren whom she has not met. Her mother Caroline Tokar had tears in her eyes as she talked about how much she misses her daughter, “I love you Amanda, please come home, we’re fighting hard for you and we’re not going to quit until we find you.”

According to Sylvia Colon, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Cleveland Missing, Dean’s disappearance is under unusual circumstances.

Colon said her family was initially told by Huron County Sheriff deputies Dean was at a safe house and not missing.

The original case was handled by the Huron County Sheriff’s office, but the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) has taken over.

The Huron county Sheriff issued the following statement in December 2022:

“On December 21, 2022, the Huron County Sheriff’s Office has officially reopened an investigation into Amanda D. Dean’s whereabouts. Ms. Dean entered into a safe house in 2017 and has not had contact with her family since. We have had conversations and a meeting with Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations (BCI) agents and requested they review and continue the investigation. We have provided BCI with all the information available for their review.

Once it has determined who will officially be in charge of the investigation, that agency will designate an intermediary who will be the point of contact with the family. We will have no further comments during this investigation.”

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