Published: November 13, 2009 11:00 pm      

CRIME: Charity drive raises funds for second autopsy

Family and friends of Amanda Wienckowski are hitting the streets today in the Tonawandas and other locations around Western New York, asking for donations to help them get answers about the young woman’s death.

Wienckowski’s body was discovered Jan. 9, nude, frozen and left inside a trash tote outside a church on Buffalo’s Spring Street. Despite the unusual circumstances, the Erie County medical examiner’s office ruled the death an accidental drug overdose.

But that hasn’t satisfied the family, who believe the bruises found on the woman’s body are defensive wounds and the discovery of GHB — commonly known as the date rape drug — prove there was foul play involved. That’s why Michelle Bliss, Wienckowski’s aunt, and others have been working to arrange a second autopsy, done by an independent examiner’s office in California that specializes taking a harder look than other agencies.

Bliss said it’s apparent to her and others that the police came to their own conclusions before the original autopsy and fit the results into that assumption.

“It just didn’t jibe with the physical findings and the reports they got from other agencies,” Bliss said of the examiner’s ruling, citing several bruises and scrapes on Wienckowski’s face and arms documented in the report. “But once they found the drug in her, that’s what they came up with.”

The family is suing Buffalo police for more of the information they’ve gathered in the case to put things together on their own, but the department refuses to turn the information over because the case is still technically open. Her family doesn’t get the impression that the case is open, Bliss said, since they’ve seen no evidence that officers questioned people who live around the scene or Antoine Garner, the man Wienckowski is said to have seen the night she disappeared.

The case is still in the courts, recently moved from Niagara County to Erie County. But in the meantime, the family is looking to get more data from the only piece of physical evidence they have: the woman’s body itself.

“We’re trying to cover the cost to exhume her body, have the second autopsy done and rebury her,” Bliss said.

Volunteers are working today to raise the more than $10,000 they need to do just that, but still need support from the community to reach their goal. An account under the name “Justice for Amanda” has been set up at the Bank of America branch at 3588 Delaware Ave. for those wishing to make a donation to the cause. Donette Darrow, who employed Wienckowski for a time at her North Tonawanda tax preparation business, said the family deserves more closure than they’ve gotten.

“She was a very, very sweet girl who made some wrong choices, but there are a lot of unanswered questions. Her parents are frustrated and just want answers. I do too,” she said.

Contact reporter Daniel Pye at 693-1000, ext. 158.