In late October 2022, 33-year-old Ashley Bush, then about thirty-one weeks pregnant, arranged to meet someone she believed to be Lucy Barrows for a work-from-home job and free baby items. The contact person was actually 43-year-old Amber Waterman of Pineville, Missouri, who had created a fake Facebook profile to lure expectant mothers. On October 31, Bush met Waterman at a convenience store in Maysville, Arkansas, and was driven toward Bentonville. Instead, Bush was abducted, taken across state lines to McDonald County, Missouri, and was killed by a gunshot wound.

The violence also claimed the life of the unborn infant, Valkyrie Grace Willis. Initial reports and later investigative testimony conflicted on whether the infant was removed from the womb; Waterman presented a deceased infant to first responders, saying she had given birth in her truck. Bush’s fiancé reported her missing when she did not return, and a search led investigators to the Waterman residence.

Amber Waterman and her husband, Jamie Waterman, were taken into custody. Amber was charged federally with kidnapping resulting in death and causing the death of a child in utero; Jamie faced a charge of accessory after the fact for assisting in disposal and attempting to hinder the investigation. What details might help shed light on how the abduction was planned or who else, if anyone, knew about it?