Protection order complicates missing Cedar Park woman case
CEDAR PARK, Texas - A single patrol unit remained parked in front of the Cedar Park home where Sam Byrd and Amanda “Mandy” Gordon lived with their two children.
While the search for Gordon has moved away from this location, Byrd remained in the Williamson County Jail. A court document obtained Monday raises new questions about what Cedar Park police have already acknowledged was a volatile relationship.
“We do have a history of disturbances at that residence,” said Assistant Police Chief Mike Harmon during a briefing Saturday.
Patrol units returned to the home on Cypress Lane Thursday night. Gordon’s family requested a welfare check because she had not been seen for several days. By Saturday investigators concluded Gordon was no longer alive —-even though they did not have a body.
“It is our belief that Amanda Gordon is deceased. At this point in the investigation we are now treating this as a homicide,” said Harmon.
The couple, according to neighbors, had a troubled relationship, with both claiming to be victims of abuse. According to court documents, in April 2018 a Williamson County judge dismissed a request for a protective order. It was not made by Gordon, the request for protection was made by Sam Byrd.
He did not finalize the request despite his claims that she made threats of family violence.
He alleged that: “Respondent (Gordon) committed acts that were intended by the Respondent to result in physical harm, bodily injury, assault or sexual assault, or were threats that reasonably placed Applicant (Byrd) in fear of imminent physical harm.”
Samuel Roy Byrd
Now Byrd is in jail, charged with tampering with evidence in connection to her disappearance. Authorities declined to discuss the details regarding the charge of tampering until the criminal complaint becomes public record on Tuesday. Their children remain with family members.
The attorney hired by Byrd to file the protection order declined to comment. The attorney for Gordon did not return a call for comment.