Amber Jean Swartz-Garcia: The Pinole Records and Dated Accounts
The front-yard description, matching references and later attributed reporting.
Abstract
NamUs MP6706 records June 3, 1988, as Amber Jean Swartz-Garcia’s Date of Last Contact in Pinole, California.1
The Front-Yard Description
The narrative describes her disappearance while playing in her front yard. Pinole Police Department is listed under reference P881501.1
California’s Department of Justice gives June 3 under Date Last Seen and repeats the front-yard description and reference P881501.2
Matching the Poster
NCMEC poster 767759 uses the name Amber Jean Swartz and gives June 3, 1988, and Pinole. NamUs lists that same NCMEC number.1,3
The state entry describes an image age-progressed to 32; NCMEC describes one age-progressed to 39.2,3 These labels describe prepared images, not new observations of Amber.
Sourced Accounts and Questions
Here’s where you come in. Can you find the dated account identifying who last observed Amber in the front yard?1
Can you match a later notice to the agency and poster references before adding it to the case timeline?1,3
Keep dated sources, observations and questions in a Research File in Almost Solved.
Show later developments and reported outcomes
Later Dated Reporting
Alex Gronke’s October 1, 2013 Patch report quoted Pinole police announcing that the case would reopen. The quoted agency explanation distinguished its earlier formal closure from continuing follow-up efforts to recover Amber.4
ABC News reported the next day that Chief John Hardester emphasized available forensic science. It also attributed skepticism about an earlier confession to Amber’s mother, Kim Swartz.5
These are dated reports of what police and family said in 2013. This paper has not reviewed that confession or forensic findings and does not treat the reports as a present outcome.
Scope and Method
Original statements and forensic findings were not reviewed. Dated reporting does not establish a present outcome.
Prepared with AI assistance. Sources and references checked against the cited public materials. This paper is an original synthesis of the identified public sources; it does not reproduce article bodies, transcripts, or an investigative file.
Footnote References
- NamUs, MP6706, Amber Jean Swartz-Garcia; reviewed November 2, 2026.
- California Department of Justice, Amber Jean Swartz-Garcia entry; reviewed November 2, 2026.
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, poster 767759, Amber Jean Swartz; reviewed November 2, 2026.
- Alex Gronke, Patch, October 1, 2013 reporting on Amber Swartz; reviewed November 2, 2026.
- ABC News, October 2, 2013 reporting on Amber Swartz; reviewed November 2, 2026.