Amanda Poole - Teen Missing Under Mysterious Circumstances in Memphis, Tennessee

Amanda Poole: Missing Since 2015

Field	Details
Name	Amanda Poole
Date of Last Contact	October 8th, 2015 (Thursday)
Missing From	Memphis, Tennessee
Age at Disappearance	16 Years
Current Age	26 Years
Birthdate Range	October 9th, 1998 - October 8th, 1999
Biological Sex	Female
Race / Ethnicity	Black / African American
Height	5' 7" (67 inches)
Weight	150 lbs
BMI	23.5
Hair Color	Black
Eye Color	Brown
Circumstances	Left home and hasn't been seen since.
Government Source	NamUs

The Body Mass Index (BMI) of 23.5 falls within the healthy weight range (18.5–24.9), suggesting Amanda Poole had an average, balanced build at the time of her disappearance. This can aid in visualizing her as someone with a proportionate height-to-weight ratio, neither notably thin nor heavy, which may assist in recognizing her in potential sightings or descriptions.

By: Shane Lambert
Original Publication Date: October 9th, 2025

Details of Amanda Poole’s Disappearance

Amanda Poole is teenager who went missing on October 8th, 2015, in Memphis, Tennessee. She was last seen wearing a white shirt and khaki pants (iHeart). She went missing during her morning commute to school. Below, I offer my theory on what happened, which I believe to be an original guess.

Speculation: Amanda Poole’s Disappearance and the Wooded Shortcut Theory

Note: The following is a speculative theory based on available case details, geographic analysis, and urban context of North Memphis in 2015. It is not presented as fact and should be treated as a hypothesis to encourage discussion and tips to aid the investigation.
On October 8th, 2015, 16-year-old Amanda Poole vanished from Memphis while heading from her aunt’s home in the 2300 block of Cliffdale Cove to a presumed MATA bus stop, likely on Hawkins Mill Road, to catch a bus to Trezevant High School. Sources like FOX13 Memphis mention the teens target for a bus stop to get to her school. I believe her target was a Hawkins Mill Road stop, with both University Street and Chattering Lane potential viable routes to reach it. A compelling theory suggests Amanda took a shortcut through a wooded area near a dilapidated house, where she may have been stalked by someone exploiting this neglected area.

The Route to Hawkins Mill Road

The standard route to Hawkins Mill Road is one that forms an inefficient “U”: south on Cliffdale Street to Sharon Lane (0.3 miles), north to Chattering Lane (0.2 miles), then either east on Chattering or north on University to a MATA stop like the one at University/Hawkins Mill (0.3–0.5 miles). This would make for a reasonably short walk totaling 0.8–1 mile.
Green and white bus stop placards appear in Google Maps in modern times and back in 2014, when Google Maps must have driven the area for an update. While nothing exists for 2015, the gap for information in the area can be bridged using the 2014 maps and modern maps to infer what was in the area in 2015. I think Amanda could have taken University Street’s sidewalk for visibility or Chattering Lane’s quieter residential path to reach Hawkins Mill, both practical for catching what I think would have Route 2 toward her high school.
But a local like Amanda might have known a shortcut. Cliffdale Street’s dead end abuts a wooded strip—dense with trees and underbrush. A route through this forested area could offer a local with knowledge of faintly used trails a direct cutoff to Chattering Lane, University Street, or Hawkins Mill Road, potentially cutting 5–10 minutes off a perhaps ill-advised short cut.

Blight and the Broken Windows Theory

Google Maps 2013 imagery shows a rundown house at the north tip of Cliffdale Street's cul-de-sac. It's overgrown and boarded in 2013.

By 2019, the same location in Google Maps looks improved but there is still some boarded windows. There are other houses like this in the area, which can be seen if you take a walk with Google Maps' 2014 update.
Common experience is enough to make a point that I think a lot of urbanites will agree with. Unmaintained homes are an attractant to homeless people, and these people can be clandestine.
For a proper citation grounded in something scholarly, the Broken Windows theory from 1982 (James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling) posited the bad building maintenance was a factor in attracting antisocial behavior and crime.
If there are faint trails through the wooded area at the end of Cliffdale Street, the kind that locals would know best, such a path could be used to bypass the inefficient U-route to the bus stop. Such an area would make a 16-year old female vulnerable to a clandestine transient or stalker, especially in the early hours of the morning.
Amanda’s mother, Tammie Leshure, told reporters she believed her daughter “met the wrong people,” a scenario fitting this setting. A transient or opportunist near the house could have watched the trail, spotting Amanda alone. Perhaps it was a crime of opportunity or someone who