Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.

Police arrived at the home of Keith and Amber Zotto after Amber’s mother, Bette, called 911 earlier that day. Amber hadn’t answered any calls or messages for two days, and Bette feared something was wrong. When police arrived, they’d discover something horrifying…

 EARLIER THAT DAY…..

officers arrive for a welfare check on  a missing  woman.

police are at the home of keith and amber zotto, ambers mother betty had had called 911 earlier that day.

asking officers to check on  her daughter,amber hadn’t responded to any calls and messages in 2  days and betty feared the worst.

the officerers arriving at the scene ,initially expected a routing missing person’s call but  what  sat inside the house would be far more twisted and disturbing  than anyone could imagine.

when police  first arrive at the zotto’s  home they accounter something strange only keith and amber’s children answer the door ,claiming their parents are gone and they  don’t know ehen they’ll be back .

this alarms the officers   so they decided to call betty the person who originally dialed  1911  hoping  she can shed some light on the situation .

but what betty reveals to officers would quickly  transform this simple  welfare  check into one of the  town’s most disturbing mysteries yet….

betty would mention that she had been to the house earlier that day and noticed a few strange details.

amber’s car was still in the driveway of the home and her phone  was left inside the house as well as  all of her credit cards and important documents.

these  details would prove to be much more important  later on.

shortly after, betty  and  her  husband ronald  arrived at their daughter’s  home to meet  with the police.

it’s here where betty would revealed what she believed what really happened to her daughter.

according to betty the family typically had dinner toghether on weekends and although keith  and amber occasionally argued things never turned physical, at least not to her knowledge.

but with no parents home,officers still couldn”t legally enter the residence  so they continued to speaking with betty.

hoping she’d reveal something that could explain  amber’s sudden disappearance.

betty explained that amber was hhighly active in the community voluteering  at her childrens elementary  school as the treasurer of the parent  organization and everyone around town knew her as a family first mother .

spending most of her time with  her children that’s why  amber disappearance was so  puzzling.

it simply wasn’t like her to spontaneously leave her kids alone.

but this confuison would only   heighten when betty showed offficers something that made the case even more unsettling.

 a note. suggesting amber  might have harmed herself.

the note betty had  discovered earlier read in part;

i haven’t been the best wife, i deserve everything  and  all the  horrible thoughts you think of me i always had —in my mind, make sure my mom has to identifiy my body everyone would be better off without me.”

at first glance the note appears as a tragic  heartfelt goodbye .. amber  seemingly detailing years of  self- doubt despair and  emotional pain .

but something about this note didn’t align with what police knew about amber.

according to her mother  whenever amber and keith fought amber always stayed at her parent’s house and had never just disappeared…

certainly not without  contacting her family first.

and althoug betty clarified that her daughter had a history  of  self harm ideiation and emtoional struggles te notes  tone sounded off.

especially the disturbingly specific instruction for her own mother to identify her body, which seemed strangely cruel to  investigators.

these unusual details hinted  at the chilling possiblity that the note wasn’t exactly what it apeared.

they began to suspect amber might  not have written these words freely , something wasn’t right…

so based on these signs officers  decided to speak with betty again, this time on the odditites found inside the note

betty  would also find the note strange but dosen’t think keith would have anything to do with amber’s disappearance.

at this point,nothing makes sense.

so without  any further clues,officers decide to move to the next  step in their investigation-searching the property.

as we  know without  the homeowner’s permission officers still can’t  go inside the house without a proper search warrant.

fortunately by using the kids they were able to get on the phone with amber’s husband keith, hoping to get the permission they needed.

luckily keith  seemed to have no problem letting officers search his home.

while one officer continued his conversation with keith another would immediately begin searching the property completely unaware they were both  minutes away  from  uncovering the horrifying truth….

one of the officers was about to search the family’s home with no idea just how close they were to discovering the gruesome scene hidden in plain sight.

based on keith and betty’s statements both were aware amber  had struggled emotionally in the past.

but neither realized  just how serious the situation had become or how tragically wrong their assumptions  would soon turn out to be…

listening  carefully to keith account ,the officer  initially found him credible as he described an argument about money and amber’s alleged infidelity.

but the officer’s concern  grew when keith admitted he’d been heavily intoxicated  and couldn’t remember if things turned physical.

suddenly the possibility that amber hadn’t actually walked away became disturbingly real.

officers now suspected now  more  clues were hidden inside the home.

a drunken fight,maybe getting physical, whatever happened

the answers were   likely somewhere inside.

as officers continued their search  their body language indicated that something  was off.

careful not to alarm the family  neither officers openly acknowledged it yet but they both recognized the  unmistakable stench  hanging in the air-the odor of decay.

at this point the only thing they were looking  for was the source of that distrubing  smell.

inside the trash can in the garage   was a gun  and undereath that was amber’s decaying body with a gunshot wound to the head  discarded with the rest of the garbage.

this  was now a  crime scene and police  immediately began to suspect that this was far from  self- inflicted.

strangely although betty  had noticed the same foul odor of decay  earlier, she didn’t realize its implications.

instead believing or perhaps choosing to believe that all this concern was simply because of the firearm police discovered in the trash can

betty didn”t know it yet but her statement  would soon casts serious suspicion on her making detectives question whether she herself had played a role in amber’s death.

for now though ,officers had to secure the area and move amber’s  family away from the gruesome scene.

while officers waited for the major crimes unit to arrive and process the scene for  forensic evidence they  began to grapple with several troubling inconsistencies surrounding amber’s family.

keith had admitted to be heavily intoxicated the night amber disappeared.

he couldn’t say for certain whether his argument with amber had turned violent.

only that things had gotten heated and that much of the night was a blur…

but  keith wasn’t the only one officers considered a suspect.

amber’s mother betty claimed she had checked the trash can earlier that morning and had seen no sign of amber’s body or the gun.

yet just hours later both appeared right there  in plain sight exactly where she swore she’d already search.

even stranger was  betty’s demeanor ,despite the horrifying situation unfolding  around her and the possibility that her daughter had taking her own life she remained unusually calm  at times even casual.

and then there was the note…

supposedly written by amber,its wording struck investigators as strange too composed almost performative.

still  in a situation as dark and desperate as contemplating poeple  sometimes write in ways  that defy logic or expectations.

as this  point everyone’s stories seemed suspiciously incomplete in the eye of  detectives

investigators started realizing  that amber’s murder might be far more  complicated than they initially thought.

so to investigate these disturbing  possibilies  police knew they’d soon  need to sit down with amber’s family  and carefully interview eachc member to uncover who might be  hiding something.

but before doing that officers needed to finish one crucial step a final thorough search of the Zotto home,carefully looking for any signs of violence or attempted cover up.

and sure enough it didn’t take long before they started noticing blood spatter throughout the house.

within  minutes officers found clear evidence  that something  violent had occurred before  amber’s body ended up in the trash can, their first  sign of foul play was likely  involved additionally

the major crimes unit documented critical forensic evidence including the silver revolver found over amber’s concealed body,blood spatter around  the trash can and debries deliberately placed to hide her remains.

despite these  findings pointing towards foul play, detectives still needed clarity on whether amber’s death a premeditated act or the result of  a heated argument that  spiraled violently out of control.

but they had two major issues preventing them from answering this crucial question.

first ,keith was nowhere to be seeen and his phone had gone completely unreachable.

second and most important ,detectives had yet  to determine  exactly who was responsible.

including  amber’s  mother and even her own children.

police didn’t know it yet but in the coming hours  these questions would be fully answered an the case would take a  completely unexpected turn.

so  to fill in these gaps all of amber’s closest  family members  were transported to the police station  for questioning.

detectives hoped they could uncover each member’s potential motives  credibility  and who was hiding secrets.

and finally reveal who might actually be responsible for amber’s murder.

after speaking with  amber’s family investigators finally had some clarity.

betty remained adamant she’d checked that trash can that morning insisting the gun and ambers body weren’t there which made her case  seem more suspicious.

meenwhile ,ambers father ronald was  shocked by his daughter’s death and found it was  hard  to believe keith was  capable of harming her.

as for amber’s children,  annabelle explained they’d both been staying at the grandparents house during the weekend clarifying why they didn’t hear the gunshot that ended their mother’s life.

however annabelle’s unusual calmness  and detailed awareness of her parent’s unstable marriage  raised  some concerns about exactly  what else the children might know or could still protecting.

after  concluding the interviews ,investigators were preparing to search for keath Zotto,the one critical piece still missing.

but just before they could act ,they received  unexpected news from keath’s sister  susan russ.

it turns out keith had visited her just hours earlier and what he confessed would finally  expose the horrifying truth behind amber’s murder.

susan’s testimony finally cleared up everything for investigators keith himself admitted  he’d woken up from a blakcout to find amber dead and openly acknowledged a violent confrontation that spiraled completely out of control. 

it was now clear than ever , that keith zotto at the heart of amber’s murder and it was time  to track him down.

just a couple of hours after detectives left susan’s house Aurora police  received a call they  never expected.

keith  zotto had surfaced at his sister’s house again

-ready to surrender.

by now officers knew keith ad  already killed once  and for all they knew he was still armed and dangerous.

so they came prepared…..

a SWAT team descended upon the location ready to take  keith down if he made even the slightest wrong move.

finally after hours of uncertainty, keith zatto  surrendered to Aurora police without  incident.

he was immediately  taken into custody and formally  processed for the murder of his wife amber

keith would go on  to admit to killing amber late saturday night claiming his gun accidentally went off druing a drunken argument over money and infidelity.

though he insisted he couldn’t remember placing her body in the trash or concealing the crime  keith accepted responsibility for her death.

however betty’s earlier statement  surrounding the infamous trash can remained unclear.

and investigators were never  able to determine why she didn’t see the gun or  amber’s  body that morning.

in may 2021  keith Zotto  was found guilty of first – degree murder and sentenced to life  imprisonment without the possibility  of parole.