For nearly three decades, the family and friends of Trudy Appleby have been tormented with uncertainty, hoping to discover what happened to the lively 11-year-old who disappeared in 1996 after being seen getting into an unfamiliar car.

On Thursday, their pursuit of justice saw a significant breakthrough as Jamison Fisher, 50, was arrested, five years after he was initially identified as a suspect.

Fisher is accused of kidnapping Trudy, strangling her, and dumping her body – but police have yet to reveal what evidence led to the charges. 

The most agonizing question of all still remains: where is Trudy? 

She was last seen alive near her home in Moline, Illinois, on August 21, 1996, but her body has never been found. 

To Trudy’s childhood friend, Amber Dunlap, the news of Fisher’s arrest was shocking. She recounted to the Daily Mail the emotional moment she collapsed at work in tears after her mother informed her of the dramatic turn of events—a moment filled with mixed emotions of relief, fury, and sorrow.

Upon seeing Fisher’s mugshot, she felt physically ill. ‘When I saw his face, I was sick,’ she expressed. ‘Anyone capable of hurting a child is inhuman.’

‘I’ve always taught my kids that monsters are real, but they don’t look like storybook monsters. They look like people.’

Nonetheless, Fisher’s arrest is just a part of the narrative. Dunlap understands that closure for Trudy’s family and friends relies on recovering her remains, and she is making a direct appeal to the man accused of her murder.

‘Tell us where she is. That way, we can give her the proper burial she deserves.

‘She was an innocent child. Please do the right thing.’

Fisher faces charges including three counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealment of a homicidal death. While he hasn’t yet entered a plea, he previously claimed innocence when labeled a person of interest in 2020.

He is being held in the Scott County Jail, where he was already in custody on unrelated narcotics charges.

Last month, his son, Edward J. Fisher, 19, died in a drowning accident along the Mississippi River.

Dunlap said that now Fisher understands the pain of losing a child, he should end the Appleby family’s suffering by confessing.

Trudy’s mom, Brenda Gordon, died without ever getting answers about her only child’s fate. She was killed in 2014 at age 53 after being struck by a drunk driver. Trudy’s father, Dennis Appleby, is 77.

Dunlap said she is desperate for Dennis to get answers in his lifetime.

‘It’s terrible to lose a child, and [Fisher] knows that pain now. The only difference is he knows what happened to his son, while we’re still waiting.

‘If he has any feelings at all, he will put us out of our misery.’

Dunlap was just 13 when Trudy disappeared.

The pair were inseparable, spending every waking minute of their free time together, to the point where they saw each other as sisters rather than friends.

Dunlap was with Trudy the night before she disappeared. That night was spent like any other: rollerblading in the street, eating hot dogs and mac and cheese, teasing Dunlap’s younger brother, and playing on the Super Nintendo.

There was nothing unusual about Trudy’s behavior. She was her usual happy and spunky self.

Dunlap walked her home. Their neighborhood felt safe then. Cul-de-sacs and tree-lined streets.

‘Love you. See you tomorrow,’ Dunlap called out as she watched Trudy go inside.

Trudy returned the sentiment – but tomorrow never came.

‘I never in a million years thought that would be the last time I saw her,’ said Dunlap.

Early the following morning, at around 9:30am, Trudy was seen climbing into a silver or gray box-style car driven by an unknown white male, thought to be in his 20s.

She was wearing a black, one-piece swimsuit, spandex shorts, blue tennis shoes, a t-shirt and carrying a beach towel.

Police said Trudy had earlier asked her father if she could go swimming with a friend on the nearby Campbell’s Island, but he said no.

Phone records indicated she had made arrangements to go anyway behind her parents’ backs, according to investigators.

What happened to Trudy after that is still not clear.

The moment Dunlap realized something was wrong came in a phone call from Trudy’s panicked dad, asking if she’d seen her.

Dennis knew the girls had plans to meet that morning, but Dunlap told him she never showed.

‘As soon as I got off the phone with her dad, I turned to my mom and said, “Somebody’s got her! Somebody took her!”’ said Dunlap, through tears.

‘I knew she never would’ve run off, and there were so many things that didn’t add up. I knew right then that something terrible had happened.’

Dunlap was questioned by the police. They believed Trudy had run away and suspected she knew where her friend was hiding. Dunlap insisted she didn’t.

While the search continued, Dunlap spent every day after school sitting at the end of Trudy’s driveway, hoping she’d come skipping down the road – as she often did – but that wish never materialized.

The days stretched into weeks, weeks into months, months into years, and years into decades – and Dunlap is still waiting to bring Trudy home.

For a long time, investigators seemed to be at an impasse. However, in 2017, the case gained momentum.

That year, police publicly identified William ‘Ed’ Smith as a person of interest, claiming he may have been the last person to be seen with Trudy in the grey or silver car.

A witness saw Smith on the day of Trudy’s disappearance in a vehicle near his home on Campbell’s Island, police said. A girl in the passenger seat matched Trudy’s description.

The following year, the FBI seized a boat they believed could be involved in the case. The vessel was swabbed for DNA, but the results of the search were never disclosed.

Then, in 2020, two more persons of interest entered the fold: Jamison Fisher and David Whipple.

Whipple – a registered sex offender, convicted of sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl – was Smith’s son-in-law, and Fisher was a lifelong family friend of the Smiths, police said.

Smith died in 2014 and Whipple in 2022. Authorities said previously that Fisher was likely the last person alive who knew what happened to Trudy.

The backyard of Fisher’s home was excavated in 2023, but nothing was found.

The Moline Police Department refused to back down in the case, voicing certainty that Trudy’s killer would be brought to justice.

Then, on Wednesday, Fisher was indicted by a grand jury for murdering Trudy and disposing of her remains.

Though she long ago conceded Trudy was likely no longer alive, the details of how police believe she was killed were hard for Dunlap to hear.

She has been haunted by an image of Trudy being strangled, and imagining how terrified she must’ve been in her final moments, desperately fighting for air.

But she is ready for answers, no matter how painful the truth may be.

‘We just want Trudy home and justice to be served,’ said Dunlap. ‘We will never get closure. Our lives will never be normal again, but at least we’d be able to move forward.’

Moline Police Chief Darren Gault said his department will continue to work tirelessly to find Trudy. As Fisher moves towards trial, detectives will be chasing all new leads, no matter how big or small.

He credited the breakthrough of Fisher’s arrest – coming one week before the 29th anniversary of Trudy’s disappearance – to decades of rigorous investigative work, which has included hundreds of interviews, numerous executed search warrants, vehicle seizures, and multiple excavations.

‘28 years, 11 months, and 23 days. That’s how long the family of Trudy Appleby has waited for a resolution to her disappearance. That’s 10,584 days,’ Gault said during a press conference on Thursday.

‘That is the time it has taken to stand before you and say what we long had hoped we could say: We have made an arrest in the murder of Trudy Appleby.’

Gault acknowledged that nothing can bring Trudy back, but Moline PD is committed to ‘seeking the truth for Trudy and her family and to ensuring that justice is served.’

Each year, Trudy’s family hosts a candlelight vigil in Moline on August 21, praying for answers and trying to keep her story alive.

This year, the solemn gathering will look very different from each of the 28 before it.

‘It’s going to be more emotional,’ said Dunlap. ‘In previous years, we’ve had police share new information, but nothing like this.’