The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 92

Police still seeking solution in mother's disappearance eg en CO DC Z3 I en UJ en I rS mux i -V-'M--M-? lir.Sfr (her friend in Canada), she was all excited about coming out," White said. "At 1 1 a.m. Mart's there and he's very upset and agitated. And it doesn't seem like she changed her mind in that time limit. "I would like him to talk to the police and take a polygraph about that missing time." After finding his wife missing, Mr.

Carroll knocked on the doors of his neighbors, with whom he had never had contact since he'd moved there, asking if they had seen his wife, Brown said. Mr. Carroll reported his wife missing to a patrol team about May 3, Brown said. He told police she had taken a purse, a makeup bag and a cellular pnone, which hasn't been used since, with her, said Donaruma. For about two weeks, Brown said, police leaned in favor of Mr.

Carroll's story. "He (Mr. Carroll) came back within a couple days and moved every one of the belongings out of the house, so there was no crime scene that we were able to get anything out of. It's been a tough case," Brown said. The empty home was searched by township and state police and no clues were found, Brown said.

The FBI and Marine officials have also assisted with the investigation. Evan Stark, an associate professor in public administration at Rutgers University in Newark, has interviewed hundreds of people, researched about 5,000, and testified in about 100 trials involving domestic disputes. Stark said his research also includes military families. "We know of course when that's the most dangerous time either when the guy senses separation or when she separates. That's when he senses the complete loss," Stark said.

Stark said if White's stories about Mr. Carroll missing dinner and his wife's reactions are true, it's a common problem. "She's crying not only because he didn't come home for dinner, but if she does cook, is it going to be cold See MISSING, Page 7 ry FAMILY PHOTO remains under investigation by police. By CHRIS DONAHUE Staff Writer RARiTAN TOWNSHIP Amanda Carroll, a mother of two daughters, has been missing from her home near Flemington since May 2, 2000. Authorities and family members don't expect to see her again.

As the anniversary of Carroll's disappearance approaches, her 2(j-year-old husband, Matthew, remains the primary suspect in his wife's disappearance, said Raritan Township Police Chief Fred Brown. But there isn't enough evidence to arrest him, Brown said. Mr. Carroll, a Marine sergeant who was working in South Iselin at the time of his wife's disappearance, vanished from the area soon after reporting her missing. But Brown said his departure was voluntary he took the furniture and his children to Long Island to live with his parents.

Neither Mr. Carroll nor his attorney returned phone calls. There's rarely a day that goes by, but there's certainly never a week that goes by that we don't discuss the case and come up with any more leads," said Brown, who was interviewed with Detective Benedict Donaruma. "We try to do a monthly meeting, ourselves and the (Hunterdon County) prosecutor's office, to discuss any new leads or avenues that we can take to continue this investigation. And we're going to continue that.

This is not going to go away. We're going to keep it up until we get some type of closure with this." For Mrs. Carroll's father, Floyd 'Whitey' White, 61, of Wickenburg, her disappearance seemed a mystery at first. Now, White said, he wonders why Mr. Carroll hasn't been more involved in the probe.

"If he (Matthew) says he's still in love with the mother of his children, why doesn't he cooperate?" White said. Mr. Carroll has refused to take a polygraph test, won't answer questions, has invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, and never calls to ask about the investigation, Brown said. Mrs. Carroll, who was three weeks shy of her 21st birthday when she disappeared, was in high school and living with her mother, Donna Shelley, in Carlsbad, when she met her future husband through a friend, White said.

The Carrolls were married in February 1995, in the chapel at Camp The case of Amanda Carroll of Raritan Pendleton in Oceanside, where Matthew was stationed. White was living in Wickenburg at the time, about 5 12 hours drive away, and saw the couple about every six weeks. "(Matthew) He was very quiet," White said. "We never had any deep discussions, but he seemed to be minding the kids alright. But he was not outgoing." The Carrolls, along with their daughters, Jenna, who turns 6 years old April 7, and Madelynn, 2, were transferred to New Jersey in 1999.

The family moved into a home on Greenwood Place off Route 202 about July 4 and Mr. Carroll began work as a recruiter in Somerville. "Amanda didn't like being a military wife, but didn't mind it at Camp Pendleton because of the families," White said. "Matthew's hours were regular and he had weekends off." However, in New Jersey, White said, his daughter didn't have a car, a job or friends. Last January, White, an Army vet- Township, missing since May 2, 2000, eran who had been stationed in Maine, Texas, and California, came to visit his daughter for a week.

Mr. Carroll was working 10 to 12 hours a day in South Iselin. Amanda would prepare dinner at 6 p.m. and Matt would call and tell her he had to work overtime, White said. "And she'd just go off to the bedroom and cry.

It was like that almost every night," White said. Because of marital problems, Mrs. Carroll, who was born in Arizona, decided to move with the children to her father's home. White said his daughter bought him a plane ticket to ha could fly to Indianapolis, where she would meet him a few days after renting a truck to haul furniture May 2. The prior weekend, Mr.

Carroll had taken the children to his parents' home. He told his wife he was returning to New Jersey with the girls May 2 and would be there about 3 p.m., Brown said. Instead, he returned home alone before 11 a.m. and found his wife missing, Brown said. Phone records and interviews show that about 6:15 that morning, Mrs.

Carroll spoke by phone to a Canadian friend she had met on the Internet, Brown said. Shelley, who lives in Indiana, called the Carroll's home about 11 a.m. and Mr. Carroll answered the phone, White said. "He (Matthew) was very agitated and said she (Amanda) was never going to see the kids again," White said.

"He said she was gone and had left her wedding ring on the television." Before May, White said he had talked to his son-in-law and he said he was OK with his wife's move to Arizona. White last talked to his daughter about 3 p.m. the day before she supposedly disappeared. 'The last time she talked to him tllJlMi Over 32 years experience tears experience Passenger-High Performance Lawn Garden Farm Lighl Truck 4 R.V. Tubes Custom Wheels OnOff Road Tires mm ill m- 111 pup Bankruptcy $25.00 OFF Pnrrlme nf Fnur New Passenger Tires Present Coupon At Time of Purchase i i Cannot Be Combined.

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