Robert Amend

State police have gotten 12 reported sightings of the fugitive who fled to Butler County last week after allegedly shooting his girlfriend in Pittsburgh.

Butler police got two similar sightings just Tuesday.

Every call has been answered and every one has proved false.

The search for Robert Amend has become a lot like chasing a ghost, authorities admit. People claim to see him here and they see him there.

“But we have to check out every call like it could be the real one,” said state police Cpl. Timothy Morando.

For now, the 49-year-old Amend of Pittsburgh remains on the loose.

He has been the target of a manhunt since Saturday when they say he shot his estranged girlfriend before driving to Butler County.

Amend eluded troopers during a high-speed chase on Route 68, where he abandoned his disabled car in a trailer park near Oakland Township Elementary School.

Police believe Amend made his way into nearby woods where he may — or may not — be.

Morando said of the dozen calls that state police have gotten, most have come from Oakland Township.

But one caller claimed to have spotted Amend Monday night in Karns City.

“We check out every call,” Morando said, “because you never know when that person's going to call in, and that's actually going to be him.”

Butler police on Tuesday — once in the morning and once at night — investigated their own supposed Amend sightings.

The first caller claimed to have seen a man believed to be the fugitive on East Jefferson Street.

“We located the guy,” said Butler Police Chief Ronald Brown, “but it wasn't (Amend).”

City officers went on the hunt again just before 9 p.m. when a 911 call reported that someone was chasing Amend in the area of West Wayne Street.

An hour later, the call was cleared and police returned to their stations empty handed.

Another day, another false sighting or two.