Amber Graham’s daughter was found safe before investigators located the 37-year-old mother behind a West Side home.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Tennessee mother who traveled hundreds of miles to meet a person she knew through online gaming was found dead behind a Cleveland home, two days after her 8-year-old daughter appeared alone at a nearby fire station, authorities and friends said.

The discovery ended a multistate search for Amber Graham, 37, of Spring Hill, Tennessee, but opened a series of questions that remained unanswered a month later. Officials have not publicly announced how Graham died, how long she had been at the Bosworth Road property or how her daughter became separated from her. Cleveland police said the circumstances remained under investigation, and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office had not released a public determination of the cause and manner of death in the reports reviewed for this story.

Spring Hill police said Graham left Tennessee around June 14 and told relatives she was traveling to Cleveland to meet a friend. Friends later told local television stations that Graham knew the person through Xbox and had communicated with him while playing “Call of Duty.” Authorities have not identified that person publicly, described the nature of the relationship or said whether the meeting was directly connected to Graham’s death. No arrest or criminal charge had been announced in the available reports. Police said Graham returned to Tennessee around June 20 and later left again. Accounts differ slightly on the timing of her final contact with relatives. Spring Hill police told one outlet that June 20 was the last time her family saw her, while a local Cleveland report said Graham’s mother last had contact with her on June 18. The reports do not establish whether the June 18 contact happened during the first trip, the second trip or as Graham moved between the two states.

Concern grew after Graham stopped communicating normally and did not return as expected. Joshua LaCroix, a family friend in Tennessee, told News 5 Cleveland that Graham worked at a grocery store and was known for reliably reporting for her shifts. He said friends received only one telephone call from her during the trip and that he heard an agitated man in the background. The identity of that man has not been confirmed by authorities, and police have not said whether the call is considered evidence of a crime.

Cynthia Clair, another friend who managed Graham at the grocery store, gave a separate account of a troubling call. Clair told Law&Crime that Graham failed to appear on the day she was expected back at work. Graham later called and quit, Clair said, and a man could be heard yelling during the conversation. Clair said the man sounded angry with both women. The exact date and time of that call were not disclosed in the reports.

The first clear sign that Graham and her daughter had reached Cleveland came July 1, when the child arrived at Cleveland Fire Station 33 near West 117th Street and Linnet Avenue. Cleveland Fire Lt. Mike Norman said the girl had a telephone number for her grandmother in Tennessee. He said she did not appear to have physical injuries or a medical problem requiring immediate treatment, but the fact that she was alone prompted firefighters to contact police.

The child was placed in the care of child welfare authorities. Officials have released few details about what she told first responders or investigators, an appropriate limit given her age and the active inquiry. They also have not publicly explained who brought her to the station, whether she arrived by herself or when she had last been with her mother. Friends said Graham was devoted to her daughter and believed a voluntary separation would have been out of character.

On July 2, Spring Hill police received a missing-person report for Graham and her daughter. By then, Graham’s friends had begun using social media to trace her movements in Cleveland. LaCroix said he contacted people through a Cleveland-area Facebook group and gathered information about a property where Graham might have been staying. The reports do not say who identified the address, what information supported the connection or when that information reached investigators.

Police and fire personnel went to a home on Bosworth Road for a welfare check July 3. The property was in severe disrepair, Norman said. Garbage and other material blocked access to the front entrance, and part of a gutter was hanging from the structure. Norman, who was not at the scene but spoke with a colleague who responded, said Graham’s body was beneath a sheet outside near a door at the rear of the residence.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman as Graham. Cleveland authorities then contacted detectives in Spring Hill, where officers had been investigating her disappearance. The identification connected the missing-person case in Tennessee with the welfare check and death investigation in Ohio. It also confirmed that Graham’s daughter had been found safe before her mother’s body was located. Investigators have not said whether anyone was inside the Bosworth Road home when officers arrived. They have not identified the owner, tenant or other people associated with the property, and no official statement has connected a specific resident to Graham. Authorities also have not said whether there were signs of forced entry, a struggle or an effort to conceal evidence beyond the body being covered.

News 5 Cleveland reported that police were awaiting findings from the medical examiner before deciding how to classify the case. A death investigation does not automatically mean police have determined that a crime occurred. The cause of death describes the injury or condition that led to death, while the manner may be classified by a medical examiner as natural, accidental, suicide, homicide or undetermined. No classification for Graham had been released in the source material reviewed.

LaCroix said authorities were working to obtain Graham’s Xbox as part of the inquiry. Digital devices can contain account records, messages and contact histories, but police have not disclosed whether Graham’s console or online account produced evidence. There also has been no public confirmation of the names or gamer tags friends attributed to the person Graham intended to meet. Those descriptions remain witness accounts rather than established findings.

The investigation involves agencies in two states, including Cleveland police, Spring Hill police and the medical examiner’s office. Officials have not announced a suspect, motive or timeline for completing their work. Graham’s daughter remained safe in protective care in the last publicly available reports, while the central questions surrounding her mother’s final trip and death remained unresolved.

Author note: Last updated Aug. 4, 2026.