Man charged with robbery while wife remains missing

A Web site is planned about the missing woman.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- A man described as person of interest in his wife's disappearance is charged with robbing an Amish woman of $6 at gunpoint.
Clifford E. Hill Jr., 35, of Guilford Lake, is to appear today in Holmes County Common Pleas Court on a charge of aggravated robbery.
Amanda Dawson, 27, of Beach City, Ohio, who authorities said is Hill's girlfriend, is also charged with aggravated robbery.
They were being held at the Holmes County Jail, according to Nathan Fritz, chief deputy for the Holmes County Sheriff's Office.
Detective Jerry Herbert of the Columbiana County Sheriff's Office said it took Hill into custody.
Herbert said Hill "was a person of interest" in the disappearance of his wife, Tracy Hill.
Tracy Hill was last seen June 7, 2001, at her job in North Lima. She was estranged from her husband and was living near Rogers.
Herbert said the sheriff's office still gets tips about the disappearance and investigates them.
"It's still an open case," Herbert said.
Divers had searched Guilford Lake in the belief a body was in the water.
Herbert said he had already talked to Dawson, who said she was unaware of Tracy's disappearance.
There have been no communications from Tracy or sightings of her.
Tracy's mother, Zoanne Evans said, "I believe she is not with us anymore."
A family reward of $10,000 for information still stands.
"I know some day we'll find her and know what happened to her. Until then, I just have to be patient," Evans said.
A friend is creating a Web site that has information about the case. Evans said she would announce the site when it is ready.
Previous charge
Clifford Hill completed 10 months in prison in 2003 on a theft charge and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle that belonged to Zoanne Evans.
The new charge, Fritz said, stemmed from the case of two Amish females, 45 and 15, who were returning home by buggy June 8. A gray sport utility vehicle passed them several times.
The buggy had turned off onto a side road when the vehicle passed them again and stopped. Fritz said a woman got out and asked for directions when the man brandished a gun.
The Amish woman had just made a deposit at the bank, Fritz said. Her purse containing $6 was taken.
She had become suspicious by the repeatedly passing vehicle and wrote down the license number of the SUV. That was taken with her purse, but she was able to remember the license plate number, Fritz said.
wilkinson@vindy.com