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Crime

42-year-old Amber Waterman contacted Ashley Bush on Facebook. Waterman claimed she could help the expecting mother get set up with a job working from home.

Bush and her Fiancé, Joshua Willis, met Waterman at the Gravette, Arkansas, Public Library on October 28th. Waterman was using the name “Lucy Barrows” and said she was a representative of a company called Conduent.

Lucy said she wanted Bush to meet her supervisor for a follow-up interview, and they set up a meeting for a few days later.

On October 31st, Willis dropped his finance off at the Maysville, Arkansas, convenience store.

Bush texted Willis later that day to say she was ready to be picked up, but when Willis returned to the convenience store, he saw his fiancée leaving the area with Lucy.

He tried to text and call her, but he never got a response. He would never see or hear from her again.

Investigation

With Bush missing, police began to investigate her online communications. They were able to trace the Lucy Barrows Facebook profile back to Waterman.

Police visited the Waterman home in Missouri and spoke to Amber and her husband, Jamie.

She had a truck like the one Willis had seen driving off with Bush on October 31st. And the truck had blood stains in several areas of the vehicle.

Amber told the police she was home in the morning. She said she went into labor in the afternoon and drove to a store in McDonald County to meet an ambulance.

She claimed her baby was stillborn.

She also stated she used to work with a woman named Lucy Barrows at an old job.

Her husband told police he received a call at 4:30 pm that his wife had a miscarriage.

Days later, police conducted a second interview with Jamie at his workplace.

He told detectives he noticed blood in the truck when he got home on the 31st, but he thought it was related to the pregnancy complications.

He admitted that his wife cleaned up the blood, and he burned the bloody rag on their property.

He then confessed that after the detectives left the initial interview, Amber admitted she killed the pregnant woman. She then took him behind the home to show him the body.

Jamie admitted to dragging the body to their firepit. The couple let the body burn for an hour before wrapping it in a tarp and taking it to a new location to dump it.

He later took the police to the body.

Amber Waterman was arrested and charged with kidnapping resulting in death. Her husband was charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact to a kidnapping resulting in death.

Legal Proceedings

Jamie pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact in 2024 and was sentenced to 75 months in federal prison. He is expected to be released on November 3rd, 2027.

In October 2024, Amber pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of kidnapping resulting in death. She was sentenced to life without parole.

She was still facing the death penalty for capital murder charges in Arkansas.

She resolved the state case in January 2026. She pleaded guilty to two counts of capital murder and was sentenced to life without parole.