Justice for Amanda Plasse

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - Nearly three months after Amanda Plasse was found stabbed to death in her Chicopee apartment on August 26th, her family still waits for answers and a suspect to be arrested. Amanda’s mother spoke exclusively to 22News reporter Heidi Voight.

The victim’s family isn’t criticizing the police response to this case. They've been working closely with local detectives and the District Attorney's office. But they turned to 22News out of desperation, because they say someone out there has to know something.

Michelle Mathieson will never forget the moment she heard her daughter Amanda was murdered.

“Shock. Devastation. Your whole world just falls apart,” she recalled.

It was every mother's worst nightmare come true, made all the more agonizing, she says, because before the police could officially inform her of the murder, rumors of Amanda’s death had already gone viral on Facebook. She started receiving phone calls from concerned friends before learning of the murder firsthand.

Michelle says detectives have been working diligently since, but there's still a missing piece.

“Somebody knows something that happened that night and has not come forward,” she said.

Meanwhile, the family struggles to cope with the void left behind. Amanda was a sister, a daughter, an aunt; a free spirit who dreamed of traveling to Europe and becoming a photographer…. dreams that were cut short when her life was taken from her in her School Street apartment at just 20 years of age.

Amanda was a waitress at Friendly’s on Memorial Drive. Since her death, the family has filled boxes with cards they've received from her former customers, friends and acquaintances. It’s an outpouring of community support that says something about the blue-eyed girl with a big smile.

“That she touched many lives,” said Michelle. “To know her was to love her.”

That’s how they want people to remember her as they plead for someone, anyone, to come forward with information.

All they’re asking for, they say, is justice.

Anyone with any information, however insignificant it may seem, is asked to call Chicopee Police at (413) 594-1730, or text information anonymously using Text a Tip. Here’s how:

• Send a text message to 274637
• Type “SOLVE” then type your message
• Hit “send”