Girl Goes Missing — Until Cops See This On Camera | The Case of Kayleigh & Amy | HO”

In the pale morning light just before sunrise, a black Jeep SUV rolled up to a Boston ATM. Nothing looked unusual—until the driver leaned toward the camera. It wasn’t the owner of the vehicle. And the young woman in the passenger seat, 24-year-old Massachusetts native Amy Lord, appeared terrified, her left eye swollen, her face rigid with pain.

Moments later, police would realize they were watching the final hours of a vibrant young woman who vanished without a trace. And another woman—20-year-old Kayleigh Ballantyne, a student from Maine—would soon be fighting for her life against the same predator.

This is the chilling story of how a killer stalked South Boston, how two crimes collided in a single night, and how one victim’s strength helped stop a serial attacker in his tracks.

A Routine Morning Turns Into a Nightmare

Amy Lord woke early on July 23, 2013, preparing for another day in the city she loved. Athletic, ambitious, and reliable to a fault, Amy was the kind of young professional who never arrived late and never missed a shift. So when she didn’t show up for work, her manager instantly knew something was wrong.

But by then, Amy was no longer in control of her day.

Between 6:03 AM and 7:00 AM, Amy used five different ATMs across South Boston—each withdrawal caught on CCTV. But one detail made investigators shudder: Amy wasn’t the one driving her own car.

Instead, a man with a shaved head lurked behind the wheel, ducking from cameras, pulling his cap low, doing everything he could to hide his face. As Amy nervously showed him the cash, her swollen cheek and trembling hands revealed the truth. She was being forced. She was scared. And she was running out of time.

Within hours, her Jeep was found burning, engulfed in flames in a South Boston parking lot. By 11:00 AM, Amy was officially reported missing. And by sunset, police would discover the unthinkable.

A Second Victim Emerges

But Amy wasn’t the first person attacked that day.

Just after 4:23 AM, only an hour before Amy appeared on camera, a young mother named Alexandra Cruz was walking to work along Old Colony Avenue. The streets were dark and quiet. A man followed behind her.

Before she could react, he looped an arm around her neck, choked her, dragged her into a parking lot, and beat her until she lost consciousness. When Alexandra came to, her attacker was rummaging through her purse. She staggered to her feet, bruised and bleeding, as he slipped away into the shadows.

Her description—Hispanic male, shaved head, a mole on his lip—was the first clue detectives would cling to. They didn’t know it yet, but Alexandra had just crossed paths with the same man who would abduct Amy an hour later.

The Disturbing Footage That Changed Everything

As detectives scrambled to track Amy’s final banking locations, surveillance footage began pouring in.

At Bank of America, nothing seemed unusual.

But at Citizens Bank, the case took a chilling turn.

Amy stepped out of the passenger seat—not the driver’s seat—while her Jeep slowly reversed away. Her face was visibly injured. Behind the wheel, the man ducked from the camera, hiding his profile with startling precision.

By the time investigators reviewed footage from Metro Credit Union, their worst fears were confirmed. The man controlling Amy’s movements understood CCTV. He hid his face. He moved in reverse. He shielded himself behind Amy’s body.

In one frame—just a split second—he lifted his hat, revealing a shaved head.

That was all detectives needed.

The Kidnapper Unmasked

Across the street from Amy’s apartment, another camera provided the missing piece. It showed a shadowy male figure pacing near Amy’s doorway, glancing inside just as the young woman descended her stairs.

When she opened the door, he lunged, forcing her back inside.

Minutes later, Amy was driven away.

As investigators processed the footage, another alert came through: a Jeep engulfed in flames had been found nearby.

It was Amy’s.

A Grisly Discovery in the Woods

By late afternoon, detectives received the call they dreaded.

A jogger had stumbled upon a body in a wooded area in Hyde Park.

Detective Paul McLaughlin rushed to the scene and instantly recognized Amy. She had been beaten beyond recognition, stabbed more than a dozen times, and left stripped of her clothing—except for a small angel-wing necklace resting against her skin.

For the Boston Police Department, finding the killer became a race against time.

They didn’t know the killer had already chosen his next target.

Meanwhile… Another Woman Walks Into a Trap

That same night, Kayleigh Ballantyne, a 20-year-old student from Maine, was working a late shift in Cambridge. She had no idea the city was in panic. She didn’t know a murderer was hunting women in her neighborhood.

At 11:45 PM, Kayleigh exited the T at Broadway and began the short walk to her Gate Street apartment. She felt safe. She was only a block from home.

But somewhere between the building’s entrance and her apartment door, a man emerged from the darkness and stabbed her repeatedly. She collapsed in a pool of blood.

Her roommate opened the door moments later and screamed.

Kayleigh was barely alive.

The Killer is Closer Than Anyone Realizes

Police rushed to Kayleigh’s street. Detectives Flynn and McLaughlin, still processing Amy’s homicide scene, heard the call: another stabbing, 500 yards away.

“I looked at the guys and said, ‘Oh no. Not again,’” Flynn later recalled.

Kayleigh was rushed to Tufts Medical Center. Nurses and detectives surrounded her as she fought to breathe, her lung collapsed, her arms and torso torn open by stab wounds.

Then came a shocking twist.

As detectives canvassed the area, the hospital dispatcher sent a cryptic message:

“We think the guy involved in your incident just walked into the hospital.”

Flynn froze.

“The suspect is in the same emergency room as the victim?” he repeated.

Unbelievable. Yet true.

The killer had walked into Tufts, bleeding from his hand, claiming he’d been in a “street fight.”

The Arrest of Edwin Alemany

When Kayleigh saw detectives in her room, she grabbed Flynn’s arm with a death grip and whispered:

“He’s here. The man who stabbed me — he’s here.”

Security locked down the hospital. Nurses pointed out a man matching her description: tattoos, tank top, shaved head, bleeding.

Detectives moved quickly and quietly. They surrounded him.

His name was Edwin Alemany, 28 years old.

And he was finally in custody.

A Trail of Evidence That Painted a Chilling Picture

In the hours after the arrest, detectives pieced together Alemany’s movements using the city’s vast network of cameras.

The story that emerged was horrifying:

After murdering Amy, Alemany went to a gas station to buy gasoline to burn the Jeep.

He bumped into an acquaintance who immediately identified him on camera.

He then used Amy’s stolen money to:

buy a new phone under the alias “Slim Shady,”

gamble on lottery tickets,

smoke cigarettes outside a Chinese restaurant with friends,

and treat himself to dinner.

Even as police searched for Amy’s body, Alemany was eating fried rice and laughing with buddies—not a care in the world.

Forensic tests later confirmed Amy’s blood on his sneakers.

There was no doubt.

The Devastating News Kayleigh Never Expected

Detectives initially chose not to tell Kayleigh that Alemany had also murdered Amy. She was traumatized, recovering from surgeries, fighting constant fear that her attacker might return.

Four days later, they decided she deserved the truth.

Kayleigh broke down sobbing.

Here she was, being applauded as a survivor, while another woman—the woman who came before her—never made it home.

Remorse consumed her. Survivor’s guilt wrapped around her like chains.

“I shouldn’t feel proud,” she told investigators. “She’s gone. And I’m still here.”

Justice — And Healing

The trial took two years. Kayleigh faced her attacker in court. She spoke through tears about learning to walk again, breathe again, trust again. Amy’s parents sat nearby, holding tightly to the angel-wing necklace their daughter never took off.

Alemany was sentenced to life in prison.

But Kayleigh’s journey didn’t end there.

Years later, she made a decision that shocked everyone who knew her: she wrote Alemany a letter of forgiveness.

Detective Flynn could hardly believe it. “Nothing good can come of that,” he warned.

But Kayleigh felt otherwise.

“Hate isn’t right,” she wrote.

“I will live my life reminded of what you did.

But knowing I have forgiven you is what lets me move forward.”

She keeps an angel-wing necklace like Amy’s.

She calls Amy her guardian angel.

And every step she takes forward, she takes for both of them.

A City Haunted — And Two Women Forever Linked

The story of Amy Lord and Kayleigh Ballantyne left an imprint on Boston’s streets, its police force, and every young woman who watched the news in fear that summer.

Two women.

One morning of terror.

One night of survival.

One predator stopped by the courage of a victim who refused to die.

And thanks to the relentless work of investigators—and the bravery of three women, Amy, Kayleigh, and Alexandra—a monster was finally taken off the streets.