Contacting Amber

Anyone wishing to help please contact Jody Simmons, Carol Simmons, Lori Simmons or Tracye Smith. Do not contact Amber directly. Thank You.

Missing Mother: Amber's Story

My name is Amber Simmons, I am 15 years old and I lived in Paris, TN my whole life- until recently. My mother, Rachel Conger, went missing when I was 13 years old. For over 10 years, I witnessed my step father, Paul Conger, abuse my mom. I have seen him hurt her in many ways like, choking, hitting, slapping, and holding guns to her head. He had threatened many times to kill both my mother and I.

We never thought anything like that would actually happen. My mom and I were best friends and I shared everything with her. She was taken from me by someone I loved and trusted. About a month before she went missing- my mother and my step father got into a huge fight- she had learned to just let him yell but he took it to far this time. I had two friends over and he was threatening to kill me and my mom’s two pregnant dogs. He kicked us out that day. My mother had been working in Clarksville TN, so she got all of our things and she took them to a friend’s house. I stayed with one of my friends in Henry County so I could still go to school. We found a house in Como, TN. I was so happy to finally get out of that house and away from him. We were doing so well on our own while he was barely able to buy food for himself.

That is when he decided he needed us back in his life. My best friend lived down the street so I was always at her house and she was always at mine. On March 12th, 2008 I had been hanging out with a few friends that lived close to me when my mom came home in her friends truck- apparently she was borrowing it because she had been given a couch. Her car was still in Clarksville. Paul was with her, I had gone out of my way to give him a dirty look and be rude to him. They got the couch in and she told me she had to go over to his house to get some of her things. I was going to church that night so I was said okay. I went to the church down the road and when my friend and I were walking home I tried calling my mom a few times- she didn’t answer so I went ahead and went to my friends house. Finally, at around 9:30 I got her on the phone but Paul answered. I asked to talk to my mom and he asked to "borrow" her for a night. Of course, I said no and asked to talk to my mother. That made him mad and when she got on the phone she sounded like she had been crying. I told her, "I want you to come home momma." She told me she would come get me.

When they pulled up to my friend’s house, I saw he was there and it made me so mad. I gave him dirty looks the whole time. When we got to my house he decided he needed to go take a shower. While he was gone my mom told me what was going on she said that he said if we didn’t let him in our lives then he would burn the house down with us in it, then she told me if I heard anything during the night to crawl out of my window, run to my friends house and call the police. Then she told me I will always love you no matter what happens. I had to walk to my friends house and get my cell phone charger. When I came back he was at the house so I quickly went to bed, not wanting to see him.

When I woke up on March 13th, 2008 my mother was not there. The bed was unmade, dishes were in the sink, and the back door was open. All of those things were very unlike her. I figured she had went to town to get something or maybe Paul was making her take the truck back and say he didn’t need his help anymore. She had told me to call her friend Doug and let him know the situation, they were NOT involved in any way other than friends he just wanted to help us out. So I started calling all of my mom’s friends after calling her for the 10th time with no answer. Doug hadn’t seen her and thanked me for the heads up, none of her other friend had seen her either, so I decided to call Paul no answer form his cell or house phone. I called everyone I knew and no one had seen either of them.

I decided to get dressed and call my friend to come over when she got there, I told her everything. We watched a movie, frequently calling my mom with no luck. Around four o’clock my friends mom took me to town, I went to my dad’s house to see if he had seen her and of course he hadn’t so I went to the police to file a missing persons report. I was so scared. They put out an APB (all points bulletin) to look for the license plate number of the truck that they were in, they couldn’t find it.

Around 11 that night I still hadn’t heard anything so I called my dad and grandma to come get me. We got my two dogs and I stayed with my grandma that night the next day they stared flying helicopters and searching for them both. They found the truck that Friday with my mom’ belongings in it like her phone and purse. On Sunday, they found my step father dead of a self inflicted gunshot wound. They continued to search for my mom with no luck.

Over the summer of ’08 I held a car wash, bake sale, yard sale, and a benefit concert to raise money to bring in search teams. I rose about 6,000 dollars in the end. I was able to bring in two search teams, United Response Search and Rescue, and The Cue Center for Missing Persons. I am so grateful to them for their efforts but my mother is still missing. I have had two candle light vigils and one balloon release. It will be two years since I have seen my mother on March 13th. I know she could never leave me because we were best friends and she loved me more than anything else. I lost my Mother at 13 years of age and I haven’t been the same since. I need closure and answers. So far I haven’t got them but I hope one day I will have them.



Thank you for your time,

Amber Simmons

Prayer

There is nothing to update, we have not been in contact with any search organizations since the last time something fell through. It gets discouraging, to say the least. I would like to take the time to ask everyone to keep praying for Rachel to be found, keep praying for Amber and Louise to have strength in what is still a difficult time.

Amber has moved with her father to Georgia for a fresh start. A place where no one talks behind her back about her mother, a place where she is free of the mindless gossip about Rachel and Paul that people spread. A place where some people do not side with the man that abused her mother and then did what changed Amber's life forever. We love Amber, we miss her dearly, but we understand.

We will update as we can, but the updates are few and far between. It is now fall, if any search teams are interested in coming to search for Rachel, we would love to speak with you. We can always be reached at bringrachelcongerhome@hotmail.com, phone contact info can be provided via email. We are not giving up in our search for Rachel, we feel that she deserves to be found, but we do need help in accomplishing that goal.

Remember My Name

Rachel Conger

Oct. 11, 1977-

March 13, 2008

Remember My Name

When you remember my walk upon this earth

Look not into my steps with pity.

When you taste the tears of my journey

Notice how they fill my foot prints

Not my spirit

For that remains with me.

My story must be told

Must remain in conscious memory

So my daughter won’t cry my tears

Or follow my tortured legacy.

Lovin’ is a tricky thing

If it doesn’t come from a healthy place,

If Lovin’ Doesn’t FIRST practice on self

it will act like a stray bullet

not caring what it hits

You may say:

Maybe I should’ve loved him a little less

Maybe I should’ve loved me a little more,

Maybe I should’ve not believed he’d never hit me again.

All those maybes will not bring me back – not right his wrong.

My life was not his to take.

As your eyes glance at my name

Understand once I breathed

Walked

Loved

just like you.

I wish for all who glance at my name

To know love turned to fear –

kept me there

Loved twisted to fear,

Kept me in a chokehold

Cut off my air

Blurred my vision

I couldn’t see how to break free.

I shoulda, told my family

I shoulda told my friends

I shoulda got that CPO

Before the police let him go

But all those shoulda’s can’t bring me back

when I lied so well
To cover the shame

To hide the signs.

If my death had to show

what love isn’t

If my death had to show

that love shouldn’t hurt

If my death had to make sure

another woman told a friend

instead of holding it in

If my death reminds you

how beautiful

how worthy

you really are

If my death reminds you

to honor all you are daily

Then remember my name

Shout it from the center of your soul

Wake me in my grave

Let ME know

My LIVING

was not in vain.

Copyright 1995 Kimberly A. Collins, Washington, D.C., reprinted with permission.



http://peace4missing.ning.com/forum/topics/remember-my-namewriting-toward

On the Anniversary of Rachel's Disappearance

It has been twelve long months since Amber Simmons has looked upon her mother's face, and yet this 14-year-old child soldiers on and holds her head up high, despite those who want nothing more to tarnish her mother's name or insinuate that her mother left her willingly. Rachel Conger was thirty when she disappeared on March 13, 2008 from her Como, TN home that she shared with her daughter, Amber. Amber's stepfather had spent the night of March 12 at Rachel and Amber's home. When Amber woke up on the first day of her spring break vacation, neither Rachel or Paul was in the house. The backdoor was standing open, which is something that Rachel would never do. There was no note left, no voicemail on Amber's cell phone from Rachel saying when she would be back. Fast forward to Sunday, March 16. Paul's body was found in the woods off of Briarpatch Lake Rd., he had taken his own life but left no clues as to where Rachel could be found.

Over the last year, Amber has organized fundraisers and recruited some of the nation's best search and rescue organizations to come to Henry County and look for her mother. Amber has spent each of the last 365 days in her own mind wishing that she could just have her mother back. To the people who have graciously donated to help bring Rachel home, we thank you. To the people who have kept Amber and her family in their prayers, we thank you. It is people like you who make it possible for Rachel's family to keep searching for her. To the people who only have the time to gossip and insinuate negative things about Rachel, please consider that at the heart of this tragic situation is a 14-year-old girl who desperately misses her mother.

Amber and Louise are holding a candlelight vigil this evening at 5 p.m. at Birds Creek Baptist Church, on Whitlock Rd. to mark the one-year anniversary of Rachel's disappearance. The vigil is open to the public. They could really use everyone's thoughts and prayers on this day.

Press for Rachel Conger

Lately, several media outlets have ran stories about Amber and Rachel. We are grateful for the media coverage because it helps to keep Rachel's name out there, so that the public does not forget that this amazing mother is still missing. All articles can be found by clicking the following links:

Weather Limits Conger Search on the HenryCountian.com

Daughter Yearns for Closure in Case of Missing Mother on the Paris Post-Intelligencer website

Search for Missing Woman Resumes on WBBJ website

CUE Center Search

On Saturday and Sunday, CUE Center for Missing Persons performed an extensive search for Rachel under rather harsh conditions. All day on Saturday, rain and sleet fell, making the searchers job that much more difficult. On Sunday morning, searchers had to deal with the snow that fell the previous night. Although we were lucky that unlike most areas only a small amount of snow fell in the Henry County area, searchers still had to contend with slippery mud and freezing temperatures. Even in all of this, the CUE volunteers and HCSO deputies never gave up. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the search, whether it be volunteers that turned out for the search or the people who donated money and/or food to keep the searchers well fed during their time here.

We received a tremendous response to our call for help with donations, and we are very grateful to everyone that gave what they could! The search for Rachel was unsuccessful this time, but CUE is interested in searching again, and we would appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers to find Rachel!

Searches for Rachel

There's something special about the people that comprise the two search teams that have and will come in the future to search for Rachel. We cannot say thank you enough to these wonderful people that take time out of their lives to come and perform this job. So, with that being said, we still want to thank United Response for everything that they did and continue to do to help us try to find Rachel, and thank you to the CUE Center for featuring Rachel on the National "On the Road to Remember" Tour, and the upcoming search. These are two wonderful organizations ran by wonderful and caring people, and we want them to know how much we appreciate both groups. God Bless all of you in everything that you do!

CUE Center Search for Rachel

Bring Rachel Conger Home

Email: bringrachelcongerhome@hotmail.com

The Search to “Bring Rachel Home”

One Henry County Daughter’s Incredible Effort to Find Missing Mother

On Thursday, March 13, 2008, thirteen-year-old Amber Simmons awoke to a day that would change her life forever. Amber woke up on her first day of Spring Break to find her mother, 30-year-old Rachel Conger, gone without a trace. In the months following her mother’s disappearance, Amber turned her attention to raise funds to bring professional search organizations to Henry County to look for her missing mother.

Community United Effort (CUE) "Center for Missing Persons" toured 17 states in 12 days on their 2008 Road to Remember Tour to raise awareness of missing persons. Rachel was featured as Tennessee's missing person and a stop was made at Memorial Park on September 1, 2008. Additional information about CUE Center can be found at :

http://ncmissingpersons.org/aboutcue.htm

On February 28 and March 1, the CUE Center for Missing Persons, based out of Wilmington, NC, will conduct all day searches for the remains of Rachel Conger. The director of CUE Center, Monica Caison, stated that they are providing this service free of charge and will bring twelve K9 dogs and their handlers, and search teams from North Carolina, Missouri, Tennessee, Florida and Maine.

Donations for the searcher’s lunches are requested from individuals and businesses that are willing to help. Email bringrachelcongerhome@hotmail.com if you would like to help donate!


Items needed for lunches:

*Sandwich meats

*Bread

*Fruits (bananas & apples)

*Small bags of potato chips

*Bottled water

*Granola bars

*Napkins

*Lunch bags

*Ziplock sandwich bags

We need at a minimum, enough of each item for 200+ lunches!