Missing Bremerton man presumed dead, woman charge in kidnapping plot

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7/13/2021by Andrew Binion (Kitsap Sun)

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Missing Bremerton man presumed dead, woman charged in kidnapping

Andrew Binion KItsap Sun

Published 6:00 a.m. PT Jul. 13, 2021

A woman is accused of taking part in a conspiracy to kidnap and kill Andre Coleman, a Bremerton man missing for more than four months and presumed dead, and investigators believe her fiancé, who was shot to death a month later, was behind the plot.

Authorities allege that Coleman, 28, a former Bremerton High School basketball standout, has not been heard from since March 1, when Facebook messages show he planned to meet Amber Lynn Ableman, 30.

Detectives wrote that Ableman was the fiancée of Steven Earl Kerr, 39, who was shot to death April 5 at a property in South Kitsap.

Andrew Luke Wright, 51, accused of shooting Kerr, is charged in Kitsap County Superior Court with second-degree murder. Court records indicate both Wright and Kerr were associated with a motorcycle club called the Free Souls, with one source telling police Kerr was an "enforcer" for the club.

A source told detectives they understood the plot against Coleman was over “a theft of money and/or drugs,” and others said Kerr had attempted to recruit others to lure a man named “Dre” to a property in Mason County to “capture, kill and dispose of the body,” according to court documents.

“It appears Amber Ableman contacted Coleman with the purpose of delivering him to Steven Kerr, who intended to kill Coleman,” detectives wrote.

Andre Coleman Contributed

Ableman had first reached out to Coleman over Facebook ostensibly to buy drugs, and from messages reviewed by investigators, it appeared Coleman did not know her.

“In the messages Ableman told Coleman a mutual friend had told her to contact him for drugs,” detectives wrote of the Facebook messages from Feb. 16. “Coleman messaged the mutual friend and found this not to be true.”

On March 1, Coleman recontacted Ableman over Facebook and they began writing to each other, ultimately arranging to meet at the WinCo grocery store on Kitsap Way, with Ableman saying she had to wait to sneak away from her boyfriend. Coleman sent her a photo of what appeared to be a bag of meth and propositioned her, saying Ableman would probably leave her boyfriend after being with him.

“You sound pretty sure of yourself there bud,” Ableman wrote, according to court documents. “But I can’t find out if (I don’t know) where to go.”

Ableman pleaded not guilty on Friday in Kitsap County Superior Court to a count of accomplice to first-degree kidnapping. She has not yet been assigned an attorney from the county Office of Public Defense.

Loved ones in anguish

Coleman’s mother said she has good days and bad days but her sole concern now is trying to find her son.

“The thing that upsets me right now the most is I don’t know what happened to him, and where he is at,” said Leslie Taganas.

Coleman was a standout basketball player at Bremerton High School from a family that has produced multiple local basketball stars, including Coleman's cousin Marvin Williams, who retired from the NBA last year after 15 seasons.

In 2010, Coleman averaged 20.2 points per game and helped lead the Knights to the team’s first appearance in the state tournament in more than a decade.

Despite his success on the court, Coleman struggled with addiction.

“He was very loved by my family and his dad’s family,” Taganas said. “Even on bad days, we still loved him.”

Taganas said that she hopes Ableman, who has children of her own, cooperates with the investigation so that Coleman’s family can have closure.

“I pray there is some sense of motherhood there, and that she will tell me where my boy is,” Taganas said.

No one has been charged with Coleman’s death and his remains have not been located, but Chief Deputy Prosecutor Cami Lewis said authorities believe Coleman is dead. His loved ones have not heard from him and activity on his social media accounts went dark after he arranged to meet with Ableman.

“It’s really unusual behavior for him,” Lewis said.

Investigators wrote that Coleman's phone could not be tracked because its SIM card had been removed or damaged.

Bremerton police Detective Brock Gorang investigated the case but declined to comment, referring the Kitsap Sun to Detective Sgt. Keith Sargent, who did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment on Monday.

Detectives arrested Ableman on July 7. She is being held in the Kitsap County Jail on $500,000 bail.

Ableman claimed she dropped off Coleman

Coleman's ex-girlfriend, who had reported Coleman missing, contacted Ableman over Facebook on April 14. During their instant message conversation, Ableman admitted to meeting with Coleman the day he vanished but claimed Coleman offended her and she made him get out of her vehicle at WinCo.

“To put it simply, I didn’t like what he was asking so I told him to get out of my car and for once in my life, a man listened to me,” Ableman wrote in the messages, according to court documents. “The last I saw him was in my rear-view mirror.”

Detectives scoured security footage from the grocery store parking lot on March 1 and noticed a vehicle similar to the one Ableman told Coleman she would be driving, but the footage did not show Coleman getting into or out of the vehicle. Also in the parking lot was a vehicle similar to one owned by Kerr, which left the parking lot at the same time as the other vehicle, according to documents.

Investigators allege that further tying Ableman and Kerr to Coleman’s disappearance are digital phone records that show Ableman and Kerr were both in the area at the time Ableman was to meet Coleman. During that period the couple made multiple phone calls to each other, staying in "constant communication."

After Ableman was to meet Coleman, the phone records show Kerr driving to Mason County and Ableman heading toward Port Orchard, but phone records from later that day place her in Mason County.

On June 10 and 11 a search of a property where Kerr was known to frequent in Mason County, on Hurd Road near Tahuya, did not turn up any human remains. However, a witness told investigators a dumpster had been located at the property a few weeks prior but was filled and moved to an “unknown location.”

A man interviewed at the property told detectives that Kerr was an “enforcer” for the Free Souls motorcycle club and that Kerr “had bragged to him about murdering people in the past,” according to court documents.

Further, two witnesses told detectives that Kerr had admitted to murdering someone, with one saying Kerr claimed it was an accident. When asked about the body, Kerr allegedly responded, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

Kerr killed a month after Coleman disappeared

Steven Earl Kerr Contributed

A witness told Kitsap County sheriff's detectives that prior to Kerr’s death, he and Wright were working on a vehicle together at a property in Olalla and appeared to be getting along. Then a witness heard Kerr scream, heard gunshots, then saw Kerr running away. Wright then allegedly shot at a witness at the scene before fleeing.