Where In The World Is Amanda Knox? Rachel Belle Goes To West Seattle To Find Her.

By Rachel Belle

Listen to Where’s Amanda Knox? Rachel Belle Heads To West Seattle To Find Out

Most of the local media outlets here in Seattle have publicly announced that they are going to respect Amanda Knox and her family’s wishes to be left alone. They sent the family a letter saying they wouldn’t be hovering outside of the family’s West Seattle homes. But since when does media leave anyone alone? If this was LA, her house would be swarmed with journalists, camped out, waiting for a peep of Foxy Knoxy. So I headed out to West Seattle to see if I could track down Amanda Knox.

First, I approached a man outside a bookstore on California Avenue and asked if he’s seen her.

“I thought I saw her at the LA Fitness I’m not sure, it could have been her, it seemed like her. It seemed like she had a lot of pent up aggression, she was on the treadmill, full board.”

Right. I continued my walk down the street and ran into Jack Miller, the owner of the Husky Deli. He says he hasn’t seen her either.

“One of the gals lives right next door to Amanda’s step-dad and they said she was nowhere to be found last night. I don’t think she’s going home to her mom’s or to her dad’s. I think she’s going somewhere where nobody can find her.”

But Jack’s trying to attract Amanda back to the neighborhood and the deli with a special menu item: A sandwich.

“It’s called The Amanda’s Free Sandwich. It’s actually got a rosemary, sundried tomato ham and smoked gouda on a croissant. We put it up on the menu two days ago, when she got out. It’s been popular. We’re out of croissants already.”

California Avenue was the hot spot for Amanda Knox information today. I saw a smartly dressed man getting into a cab with a video camera and I ran over to flag him down. Turns out he’s a reporter for the BBC named Tom Burridge.

“I flew in for this. I actually flew on the same flight as Amanda Knox from London to Seattle along with all the other British media.”

As far as where Amanda is:

“Kurt Knox [Amanda’s father] said in an interview to us today that she is in an undisclosed location and, in his words, ‘The media will not find her.'”

The Brits tend to cover stories a little bit more aggressively than the American media. I wondered how Burridge felt about Seattle’s hands-off approach.

“Hopefully we do our best to respect the feelings of people involved in the story but at the same time get the story because people are genuinely interested. This story is a big story and it needs to be covered. I think there’s a way about doing that and hopefully respecting the family at the same time.”

Easy Street Records owner Matt Vaughan changed the marquee of the West Seattle Store to read “Welcome Home Amanda.” So far the little sign has made it into the pages of USA Today and Matt’s been fielding calls since yesterday.

“Some of it’s been negative from a lot of customers who say they’ll never shop in my store again. They believe she’s guilty and that I am trying to gain notoriety by putting the sign up or grabbing publicity.”

Well, is he?

“Absolutely not. I didn’t put the sign up at my Queen Anne store. This is her little hometown that she was brought up in. She went to the same high school as I did. You know, we got to know some of her friends and family, especially over the last four years.”

As for leaving Amanda alone.

“I sense that she wants to talk about it, I mean, she didn’t have to do the comments yesterday. I think she needs some time to adjust from being in a courtroom and from being in prison and around four walls like she has been for four years. So maybe a nice vacation and gaining a perspective on just what she’s gone through before she speaks about this. I think it is a little too soon for her to have an in depth conversation about it.”

In the meantime, while she hides and hangs out and recovers, The husky Deli will have her sandwich waiting for her.