Homeschooling’s 

Invisible Children

Amber Nicklas

Content note: Case narratives include descriptions of severe violence inflicted on children, including abuse and neglect, sexual violence, torture, and murder, as well as mentions of suicide and domestic violence. They also include photos of victims and perpetrators of violence.

amber nicklas
Amber Rose Nicklas, age 13 months, was abducted from her foster parents in Norwalk, California in September 2003 by three of her teenage biological aunts. Though two of the girls were caught, the third managed to escape with Amber, who was missing for seven years. Amber was raised by a loving Romany family in Arizona who did not know she had been abducted—they were told that her drug addict mother had given her up. However, they did not have any identifying paperwork for her, so she could not be enrolled in school. Instead she was homeschooled in the Romany tradition, although when she was found she could not read or write, although she was bilingual in English and Romany (mistakenly identified in several news sources as ‘Romanian’).

She was discovered in 2010 after police received a tip about her whereabouts; she was subsequently returned to her foster parents.

Date: July 14, 2010
Location:
Phoenix, Arizona

Documents: Date:
Missing girl found after almost 7 years 07-15-2010
Amber Nicklas: Kidnapped California Girl Found Alive Seven Years Later 07-15-2010
‘She’s traumatised and speaks Romanian’: Mystery of girl snatched as toddler in 2003 and found seven years later 07-17-2010
Lawyer: Family unaware girl was kidnapped 07-17-2010
Amber Nicklas, 7, found after 2003 abduction 07-18-2010
Missing girl found after seven years. But did she want to be? 07-18-2010
Amber Rose Nicklas: The Family Who Had Amber Speaks Out 07-20-2010