Woman Missing after Mysterious Fire in Gautier

Authorities want you to be on the lookout for 37-year-old Amanda Hicks who is missing from Gautier after a mysterious fire last week.
Thirty-seven year-old Amanda Hicks has been missing for nearly a week. She was last spotted at Santa Maria RV Park in Gautier just moments after the trailer where she stayed was engulfed in flames. Hick’s boyfriend, James Vanlaningham, has been charged with arson and is currently in custody in Alabama for unrelated DUI charges. Eyewitnesses at the scene believe he may also be responsible for Hicks’ disappearance. Witness Jessica Cook said, “My uncle came riding by on a bicycle and he said there’s smoke coming out of that trailer up there. So we started running or walking towards it and I said to my son there might be somebody in there so we started running and then when I get up here there’s a guy outside that said he heard a woman screaming and that he might have locked her in there.”
Cook said that by the time she and her uncle reached the trailer they were certain that the fire would have already killed anyone that was still inside.
Gautier police and fire departments have worked the scene since the fire and there’s no trace of Hicks at the residence, but neighbors are worried that she might still be in danger. “There was talk of a fight maybe going to be happening because from what I understand he suspected that there was a relationship going on behind his back,” said Cook.
Hicks has brown hair, blue eyes and weighs around 240 pounds. Her family and friends want answers. If you’ve seen her or have any information regarding the case, call Gautier Police Department at 228-497-2486.