The cold case of Amanda Nicole “Nikki” Campbell, a four-year-old girl who went missing from her Fairfield neighborhood in 1991, has been reopened by the Fairfield Police Department. This decision comes in light of a murder confession made by a former church pastor, David Zandstra, in a separate case.
Zandstra, who lived in Fairfield around the time Amanda disappeared, recently confessed to killing 8-year-old Gretchen Harrington in 1975 in Pennsylvania. His confession prompted the Fairfield Police Department to revisit Amanda’s unsolved case. However, no current evidence suggests a connection between Zandstra and Amanda’s case.
Zandstra, an 83-year-old resident of Marietta, Georgia, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping related to Gretchen’s death. He allegedly lured Gretchen into his car with the intention to rape her and killed her when she refused to undress.
This case serves as an unsettling reminder of the importance of vigorously pursuing cold cases. While it remains to be seen what further investigations will reveal about Amanda’s disappearance, the hope is that advancements in the case can provide some form of closure for her family.