Crime & Safety

Unsolved Cases: Jamie Peterson

The mother of two from Ross Township vanished last September.

To an outsider, Monday, Sept. 26, 2011 might have seemed like an average day in Jamie Nichole Peterson's life.

Her children, a 9-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl, left for school that morning from their home in the area of North Fremont Avenue, near Bellevue Borough. Jamie, 30, went to buy groceries at the Giant Eagle at 4110 Brighton Rd., and, according to some reports, also a Home Depot, then returned home.

The last person to see Peterson was an ex-boyfriend who came over early that afternoon to pick up clothing he had left behind. Jamie had broken off the five-year relationship three weeks earlier, according to her father, Jim Peterson, a former state constable from Ross Township.

Find out what's happening in Dormont-Brooklinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Witnesses said she and the ex-boyfriend talked outside in the yard and that she did not get in his car, Jim Peterson said.

Darlene Peterson, her mother, reported her missing after her children returned home from school and couldn't find her. Jamie's car was still at the home, but her purse and cell phone were gone.

Find out what's happening in Dormont-Brooklinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It wasn't the first time Jamie had disappeared, her father said. She had gone missing for awhile about eight years prior to the September 2011 disappearance.

The family passed out flyers in hopes of getting information and, after a few weeks with no success in finding her, Jamie's father organized a search of the area. 

On Oct. 8, 2011, more than 50 friends, relatives and volunteers conducted a ground search, specifically looking for her purple Cricket phone case with flowers, a black cloth purse with white skulls and a pair of glasses with pink speckles.

They concentrated on the area between Route 65 (Ohio River Boulevard) in Bellevue Borough and the North Fremont Avenue area of Ross Township.  The only things found were a pair of glasses and sandals but it is unknown if those items belong to Jamie.

Jamie attended and graduated from Northgate High School. She enrolled at Rosedale Technical Institute in 2004 and graduated in 2005 with an automative diploma. A mechanic, she was on disability leave from a car dealership following knee surgery. 

Jamie is white, 5-foot-3-inches tall and of stocky build. She has shoulder-length brown hair with blond streaks and green eyes. She wears black glasses with pink speckles. She also has multiple tattoos, including a butterfly tattoo on her neck, a purple bear on her left arm, a cross on her left shoulder with her son's name (Elijah), a daisy on her right shoulder with her daughter's name (Daisy) and a purple rose on her right breast.

Det. Brian Kohlhepp said there are no new details to release, but that the case is still being actively worked.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to contact Kohlhepp at bkohlhepp@rosspolice.com or 412-931-9070, ext. 148.

For more information about this and other missing person cases, visit Pennsylvania Missing Persons, NamUs or the Doe Network.

Follow Dormont-Brookline Patch on Facebook and Twitter. For more news, sign up for our email Newsletter.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.