[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to least of these, where I cover the cases that need it most, because every life matters and everyone deserves justice.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host Leah D.

and today I'll be covering the case of Amber McFarlane, which will take us all the way to Canada to portage La Prairie, Manitoba.

[SPEAKER_00]: I learned about this case after Marjorie Zettler reached out to raise more awareness about Amber's disappearance.

[SPEAKER_00]: Marjorie is from the same hometown as Amber and has become an advocate for Amber and her family.

[SPEAKER_00]: She's been over a year researching conducting interviews and getting to know every detail of Amber's case.

[SPEAKER_00]: Marjorie then wrote a three-part series about Amber's disappearance, which was published in the graphic leader.

[SPEAKER_00]: She shared her work with me in most of the information in this episode came from Marjorie series.

[SPEAKER_00]: you can find the entire series at the graphic leader and I'll be sure to drop a link in the show notes of today's episode.

[SPEAKER_00]: You all know we're all about advocating for victims over here and I couldn't be more grateful that Marjorie reached out to amplify Amber's story.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that's what we're going to do today.

[SPEAKER_00]: And with all that said, let's get right to it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Nestled in the heart of Southern Manitoba on the banks of the Asinaboyne River, Portichloprary traces its roots back to the early mid-1700s when explorers established the fur trade outpost Fort Loren.

[SPEAKER_00]: Over time, it evolved into a vital regional hub thanks to fertile prairie soil that earned it its reputation as an agricultural heartland, and its strategic location on [SPEAKER_00]: Though modest in size with a population of roughly 13,000 people as of the 2021 census, portage remains a community with a small town feel, where people still hold the door for strangers and neighbors look out for one another.

[SPEAKER_00]: in 2008, portages were Amber McFarlane called home.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber was 24 years old and full of life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Friends and family spoke with Marjorie Zettler and described Amber as someone with a big heart, a huge smile and a soft spot for rescued pets.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber was always up for an adventure or a quick trip to McDonald's, and she never left the house to go anywhere without her hair and make up perfectly done.

[SPEAKER_00]: She loved all things fashion and style in according to her mother, Lori McFarland as she spoke to the Winnipeg Free Press, Amber had big dreams of becoming an interior designer, something with her eye for style she would have excelled at.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber was close with her family, especially her mom Lori and her sisters.

[SPEAKER_00]: Her twin sister Ashley and younger sister Lisa.

[SPEAKER_00]: The women had plenty of time to spend together the second week of October 2008, because it was Thanksgiving.

[SPEAKER_00]: Canadian Thanksgiving, that is, which are northern friends celebrate the second Monday of October.

[SPEAKER_00]: It celebrated earlier to coincide with [SPEAKER_00]: But in a lot of ways, Thanksgiving in Canada is a whole lot like the one in America.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a time to express gratitude for the year's blessings and spend time with family and friends gathered around the table.

[SPEAKER_00]: And of course, there's usually football involved.

[SPEAKER_00]: And for the McFarland, that's exactly what they did.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber spent time with her family celebrating the holiday.

[SPEAKER_00]: They had no way of knowing that that would be the last holiday they'd ever share together because four days after Thanksgiving, Amber McFarland vanished.

[SPEAKER_00]: On Saturday, October 18, 2008, Laura McFarland's phone rang.

[SPEAKER_00]: On the line was one of Amber's co-workers at Mark's Work Warehouse, which was a retail clothing store in Portage.

[SPEAKER_00]: The co-worker told Lori that Amber hadn't made it into work her shift that morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that wasn't like Amber.

[SPEAKER_00]: She was reliable.

[SPEAKER_00]: She wouldn't have just skipped out on work like that with not so much as a call.

[SPEAKER_00]: Lori was worried, but she tried to push it to the back of her mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe Amber had overslept, had car trouble, forgot she was scheduled to work.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe there was a simple explanation, and Amber would call or walk in the door at any moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: but Amber never called.

[SPEAKER_00]: The following morning when Lori's phone ring again, it was someone at Mark's work warehouse and forming her that Amber had now missed a second shift at work.

[SPEAKER_00]: Lori McFarland would later recall to the Winnipeg Free Press that at that moment, she knew something was very wrong.

[SPEAKER_00]: She stated, the second call we received the following morning, when they said that Amber again did not show up to open the store was a turning point.

[SPEAKER_00]: This was the moment that I knew something was terribly wrong.

[SPEAKER_00]: Our lives have never been the same after receiving that phone call.

[SPEAKER_00]: After 24-year-old Amber McFarland failed to show up for two shifts at Mark's Work Warehouse on Sunday, October 19, 2008, Amber's father Scott filed a missing persons report with the Portage RCMP Detachment.

[SPEAKER_00]: That same morning, Amber's vehicle, a Toyota Tersel, was found at Kanada's Endestination Center at 2401, Saskatchewan Avenue West.

[SPEAKER_00]: Family and friends immediately search for Amber, hopeful that she would be found quickly.

[SPEAKER_00]: At the same time, investigators began to retrace Amber's steps leading up to her disappearance.

[SPEAKER_00]: They learned that on Friday, October 17th, Amber was in Winnipeg for work training, before she made her way back to Portage late that afternoon.

[SPEAKER_00]: Once she made it back, she met up with friends at Smitties lounge, which was in the western of Portage.

[SPEAKER_00]: They all hung out at smitties for a while before moving on to Kanadan, the place where her car had been found.

[SPEAKER_00]: After spending time at the end, the group moved on to their final stop of the night.

[SPEAKER_00]: Midtown motor ends cat and fiddle night club in downtown Portage.

[SPEAKER_00]: While they were at the cat and fiddle, one of Amber's friends said she saw Amber with her ex-boyfriend.

[SPEAKER_00]: A man named Kelly Garyak.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this was the first really troubling sign.

[SPEAKER_00]: We all know exes are exes for a reason, and as it turned out there was a very good reason 39-year-old Kelly Garyak was Amber's ex-boyfriend.

[SPEAKER_00]: About five months earlier in May of 2008, Amber had taken out a no contact order against Kelly after he allegedly assaulted her.

[SPEAKER_00]: The details of that assault haven't been made public, but Amber was doing court to testify against Kelly that coming November, which at the time of her disappearance was roughly a month away.

[SPEAKER_00]: The friend that Saul Amber speaking to Kelly at the cat and fiddle that night, well, to put it frankly she was pissed.

[SPEAKER_00]: She knew Kelly was bad news, and she didn't want him anywhere near Amber.

[SPEAKER_00]: She wasn't shy about her feelings either.

[SPEAKER_00]: She and Amber exchanged words over Kelly, and that was the last time she saw her friend, Amber McFarlin.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the days after Amber vanished, Amber's family called Kelly looking for information, and while according to the family, he admitted he had been with her that night and she had gone to his house.

[SPEAKER_00]: He claimed he didn't know where she was now or what had happened to her.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that must have been the same story he told police, because in the days after Amber vanished, authorities turned up the heat.

[SPEAKER_00]: On October 24, the massive search was organized and led by Captain George Leonard of the Manitoba Search and Rescue Association.

[SPEAKER_00]: Search and rescue teams and droves of volunteers equipped with a helicopter mounted horses utility vehicles, canines, boats, and all the resources they could get their hands on, searched relentlessly from that October 25th day until November 2nd.

[SPEAKER_00]: The search for Amber on November 1st is reportedly the largest search in Manitoba history.

[SPEAKER_00]: Almost 1,500 volunteers showed up to try and find Amber to say the community came together and the search for Amber McFarland would be an understatement, but despite their very best efforts, they found nothing.

[SPEAKER_00]: The last major organized ground search was held on November 2, 2008, two weeks after Amber vanished.

[SPEAKER_00]: Finding no clues, Amber's family, along with investigators, turned to the public for information.

[SPEAKER_00]: Her family offered a $20,000 reward for information and investigators pleaded with the public for anyone to come forward.

[SPEAKER_00]: Months passed with no sign of Amber, no activity on her cell phone or bank accounts and no solid leads.

[SPEAKER_00]: The RCMP were pretty tight-lipped about their investigation, only revealing that it was an active one.

[SPEAKER_00]: But four months after Amber Vanish on February 7, 2009, investigators released surveillance footage from the early morning hours of October 18.

[SPEAKER_00]: The public learned for the first time that Amber's trail didn't exactly end at the cat and fiddle nightclub or canads in.

[SPEAKER_00]: Investigators obtain surveillance video from a beer vendor.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if you've never heard of the beer vendor before like I had, think like a liquor store but for beer wine and malt beverages.

[SPEAKER_00]: That beer vendor was located at the Midtown Motor Inn, where the cat and fiddle nightclub was also located.

[SPEAKER_00]: So there was a hotel, a nightclub, and a beer store all right there in the same vicinity.

[SPEAKER_00]: Anyhow, in that surveillance footage, Amber is in the company of two men, and I can bet you can guess who one of them was.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's right, Kellig Roche.

[SPEAKER_00]: At just after 1 a.m.

on October 18, 2008, Amber was captured on video with the Midtown Motor and Beer Vendor.

[SPEAKER_00]: The video shows Amber in the company of two men, ex-boyfriend Kelly Garrosh and Kelly's friend 40-year-old Graham Saxon.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the video, Amber is smiling and talking to the two men, and at one point Kelly has a [SPEAKER_00]: That video was released and the RCMP asked anyone who had seen Amber Kelly or Graham that night to come forward and speak to investigators.

[SPEAKER_00]: The investigation continued in a few months later on June 10th of 2009, the RCMP confirmed that they were now investigating Amber's disappearance as a homicide.

[SPEAKER_00]: That very same day, investigators spent more than 10 hours at Kelly's former home on Yellowquill Trail, just southwest of Portage.

[SPEAKER_00]: They were searching inside and outside and digging up parts of the backyard.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I say former home, because as it turned out, Kelly Garrosh had reportedly sold his residence in December of 2008, a mere two months after Amber Vanish.

[SPEAKER_00]: It also turned out that this wasn't the first time investigators had searched that residence.

[SPEAKER_00]: They had previously searched just after Amber disappeared in 2008.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sargent and Barnaby spoke to the Winnipeg Free Press during that second search, and said that they were back at the home for a second search, because that's where their investigation had led them after new owners had moved in.

[SPEAKER_00]: Kelly Garrosh also spoke to the Free Press and told the outlet that he had nothing to do with the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend, stating, I've done nothing.

[SPEAKER_00]: He went on to say that his life had been horrid since Amber disappeared.

[SPEAKER_00]: And his life was about to get worse because a month after that second surge in July of 2009, Graham Sachsen was arrested and taken in for questioning.

[SPEAKER_00]: After his friend's arrest, Kelly Garo spoke to the Winnipeg Free Press and called Graham's arrest ridiculous and said it was part of a police plan to pressure him in Graham.

[SPEAKER_00]: Garo stated, [SPEAKER_00]: They've got to be making it look like they're making some progress in the public eye.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're at the point this is getting ridiculous.

[SPEAKER_00]: You went on to say that his life had been turned upside down since Amber disappeared and that the police should consider exploring other avenues.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure the police were so very thankful for that helpful piece of advice coming from Kelly.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just hours after that interview with the free press, Kelly Garrosh was arrested and taken into custody to be questioned again.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now we don't know what Saxon or Garrosh told investigators, throughout it all, the RCMP has kept most of the details close to the vest.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we don't know what either man's said in that interview room, but we do know what they've stated publicly to the press and to Amber's family and friends.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's start with Graham, and a statement to the Winnipeg Free Press, Graham claimed that after leaving the beer vendor in the early morning hours of October 18.

[SPEAKER_00]: He dropped Kelly and Amber off at Kelly's house [SPEAKER_00]: and that was it.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't know where Amber was now or how she had gone missing.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, according to Graham, he barely knew Amber.

[SPEAKER_00]: Graham said he had only met Amber for the very first time the night she went missing.

[SPEAKER_00]: He went on to say that he had passed a polygraph and that the RCMP had cleared him as a suspect.

[SPEAKER_00]: Anyhow, and the days and weeks after Amber's disappearance, her family and friends had looked to Kelly for answers.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, her friends saw them together at the nightclub, and he was captured on surveillance video with her just before she vanished.

[SPEAKER_00]: So of course, they wanted to know what he knew.

[SPEAKER_00]: Kelli Gariox statement did match Saxons at least in part.

[SPEAKER_00]: Kelli said that Amber had come to his home after they left the beer vendor that night, but she had left of her own accord.

[SPEAKER_00]: Gariox claimed that Amber called someone on her cell phone to pick her up from his house, but conveniently he didn't know who that someone was, what they drove or any details that could help police find, whoever this mystery person on the phone was.

[SPEAKER_00]: And to this date, as far as we know, no one has come forward who spoke to Amber that night after she left the beer vendor.

[SPEAKER_00]: After questioning, Kelli Garyok and Graham Saxon were released and not charged with any crime.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sure, it was all suspicious, especially Kelli's story, but investigators felt they didn't have enough evidence to charge him with anything.

[SPEAKER_00]: Though no one has been charged in Amber's disappearance, the RCMP has made it clear that they believe Amber has been met with foul play, and they are still investigating her case as a homicide.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber's family also believes that Amber is no longer alive, her mother Lori spoke to the graphic leader and said, we do hold out hope that one day we will know what happened to Amber, and who was responsible for taking her life.

[SPEAKER_00]: We know in our hearts that she is not coming home, that she has passed away, but we still hope that her remains are found so that she can be properly laid to rest.

[SPEAKER_00]: For most of the 17 years since Amber McFarlane disappeared, RCMP Corporal Scott Robinson has been the primary investigator on Amber's case.

[SPEAKER_00]: He and his team have tracked down every lead and interviewed anyone willing to talk.

[SPEAKER_00]: He revealed that there are over 1,700 names in Amber's file, including people who gave witness statements, those interviewed a neighborhood canvases, and others who assisted in the investigation.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber's case remains at the forefront of the investigator's mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: In follow-up notes, then after an interview, Corporal Robinson wrote to Marjorie Zettler, a week does not go by, where I do not think of Amber and her family.

[SPEAKER_00]: The community hasn't forgotten Amber either.

[SPEAKER_00]: There have been a number of visuals and benefits, and Amber's missing person's flyer still hangs in storefronts.

[SPEAKER_00]: For years, her mother Lori planned her route every morning to drive right past yellow quilt trail.

[SPEAKER_00]: The last place her daughter was known to be alive.

[SPEAKER_00]: She said she wanted to start her day with her daughter on her mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber McFarlane would be 41 years old today.

[SPEAKER_00]: The years continue to pass but justice, at least for now, awaits the McFarlane family.

[SPEAKER_00]: Her nephew, who was nine months old at the time of her disappearance, will be a high school graduate this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Every year on the anniversary of her disappearance, her mom and sister spend the weekend together.

[SPEAKER_00]: Lori said, we saved that weekend for what we call our Amber weekend, and we decide what we're gonna do.

[SPEAKER_00]: We try to do something different every year to walk away from the busyness of life and just have a day for Amber.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just kind of a peaceful, memorable day where we all kind of sit down together.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber's absence and shock waves of grief through her entire family, and the lack of justice makes the sting even more painful.

[SPEAKER_00]: Lori McFarlane went on to say, she's alone wherever she is, but as for justice, yes, she does deserve justice, and really whoever's responsible, they're still as far as we know, living their life freely and having their family milestones, perhaps enjoying grandchildren.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber's whole future was taken from her, and that of course affects our family.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber was just 24 years old when she went missing from Portage, Manitoba, on October 18, 2008.

[SPEAKER_00]: She is five foot seven and approximately 135 pounds.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber has blonde hair and green eyes.

[SPEAKER_00]: She was a lasting wearing a black sweater and blue jeans.

[SPEAKER_00]: There is still a $20,000 reward for information, and someone out there knows something.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you have any information about Amber's disappearance, please contact the RCMP major Crown Services Special Project team tip line at 1-8-8-6-7-3-3-1-6, or call crime stoppers at 1-800-222-tips.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that my friends is all I've got for this week.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for caring.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you know something, say something.

[SPEAKER_00]: And until next time, be good to each other.

[SPEAKER_00]: Man, it is always so frustrating when you kind of know what happened.

[SPEAKER_00]: You just can't prove it and that happens in so many cases.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure you won't be shocked to learn that in my opinion, the trail stops with her ex-boyfriend Kelly.

[SPEAKER_00]: Allegedly, of course, this is my opinion, you know, all the things.

[SPEAKER_00]: But in any missing person's case, trust me, if he could give investigators a solid lead to where she has gone, like if he knew, oh, no, she really made a call.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this is a person.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this was the person's voice sounded like he would totally do that to get the heat off of his back.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, wouldn't you?

[SPEAKER_00]: If you were one of the last people to be seen with somebody and you knew they weren't with you and went somewhere else, you would point them in their right direction.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are so many cases where I have worked on personally, where this is the case.

[SPEAKER_00]: We know what happened or we think we know pretty close to what happened.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just can't prove it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Or you can't prove it enough for an arrest warrant.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's frustrating and it's so frustrating for her family.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amber was 24.

[SPEAKER_00]: She had her whole life ahead of her.

[SPEAKER_00]: She had dream.

[SPEAKER_00]: She wasn't a mom yet.

[SPEAKER_00]: She has a twin sister.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can't even imagine, and people know, people know exactly what happened, but they remain silent and they allow this family to continue suffering.

[SPEAKER_00]: When at the very least, they could have a proper burial site if bringing Amber home is not in the cards and not possible.

[SPEAKER_00]: is frustrating.

[SPEAKER_00]: As times like these, I'm just, I'm like half kidding, but you wish enhanced interrogation was a thing, right?

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a joke.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not serious.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't take it serious, please.

[SPEAKER_00]: Good Lord.

[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, that's some.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's my opinion, and for what it's worth, I think his friend, Kelly's friend Graham, I think he's telling the truth he dropped him off, and he probably had no clue what was going to happen that night, but I firmly believe that there is someone out there who saw something knows something heard something.

[SPEAKER_00]: who could break this case wide open.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if that's you, you need to call.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can remain anonymous.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's 20, that you'll be $20,000 richer and you will give a family.

[SPEAKER_00]: I hate the word closure because I don't even really think that's a thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: But at least a piece of mind of having a place to visit their loved one and a proper burial for a completely innocent woman, do the right thing, just do the right thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And before we go tonight, I do want to send a little shout out to Marjorie Zettler for reaching out.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've probably said this a hundred times now, but if they're, if you are a family member, you have a loved one missing murdered.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you want their case featured on this podcast, just shoot me an email, send me a message on Instagram or Facebook.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if I don't answer the first time, send it again, sometimes things get lost.

[SPEAKER_00]: But we love to bring awareness to cases that aren't getting new awareness that they deserve and a family reaching out to me always receives top priority and gets bummed to the top of the list.

[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, thanks, Marjorie, for thinking to me and trusting me with your work and Amber's story.

[SPEAKER_00]: That really does mean the world to me when someone reaches out.

[SPEAKER_00]: And with that said, I think I'm gonna hop off of here for the night.

[SPEAKER_00]: Y'all know I love you more in my luggage and I can't wait to talk at you next week.