The Disappearance of Amanda Campbell: A 4-Year-Old Who Vanished on a Bike Ride in 1991

 

On December 27th, 1991, 4-year-old Amanda Nicole Eileen Campbell, known as Nikki to her family, vanished from her neighborhood in Fairfield, California.

That afternoon, Amanda was playing at a friend’s house just four doors down from her home. Around 4:30 to 5:00 p.m., she left her brother and another friend, saying she was going to ride her bicycle to another friend’s house around the corner. She never arrived.

Later that evening, her bicycle was found abandoned just a few blocks away. Searchers scoured the neighborhood, but Amanda was nowhere to be found. Investigators also found a pair of child-sized blue socks in the street, though it’s never been confirmed if they belonged to her.

Tracking dogs followed Amanda’s scent from her street to Oliver Road, through the drive-through of a nearby McDonald’s, then east along Travis Boulevard, all the way to the westbound Interstate 80 on-ramp. Police believe she was pulled into a vehicle, likely at the corner of Larchmont Drive and Salisbury Drive.

Over the years, several suspects have been considered. One was Timothy Bindner, a man long suspected in several East Bay disappearances, including Ilene Misheloff, Amber Swartz-Garcia, and Michaela Garecht. Bindner often inserted himself into missing children’s cases, even befriending victims’ families, which investigators felt was a disturbing attempt to play mind games. He was never charged in Amanda’s disappearance and later sued the city of Fairfield for defamation—and won.

Another possible suspect was Curtis Dean Anderson, a convicted child kidnapper who, before his death in prison in 2007, claimed responsibility for Amber Swartz-Garcia’s disappearance. Investigators searched his mother’s home in 2001 looking for connections to other missing girls, including Amanda, but found nothing solid. His credibility remains debated.

Then in August 2023, a new name surfaced: David Zandstra, an 83-year-old former pastor arrested for the 1975 murder of an 8-year-old girl in Pennsylvania. Zandstra had lived in Fairfield at the time of Amanda’s disappearance, just minutes away from her home, and worked at a local church. For a brief moment, many hoped his arrest could finally bring answers. But in December 2023, police officially cleared him of any involvement in Amanda’s case.

Now, more than 30 years later, Amanda’s fate remains a mystery. She would be 38 years old today. Despite numerous leads, no one has ever been charged, and investigators continue to believe foul play was involved.

Amanda’s case is a painful reminder of how quickly a child can disappear, and how families can be left waiting for answers for decades.

Do you think Amanda was targeted by one of these known predators, or was it someone closer to home that police have never identified?