AMY AUSTIN

Amy Diane Austin had known MacGyver ever since they had dated in college.

She may have grown up near Westport Beach, California where her parents' home had been, but her parents had recently been killed in a plane crash and she had put the home up for sale. She had also attended college near Westport Beach, and it was there that she had met Tim Wexler and MacGyver. The three of them had been officers of the Science Club in college.

MacGvyer and Amy had dated during college, and MacGyver described their relationship, based on a deep friendship, as "AmyAndMe - one word." However, as graduation approached, they began to realize that they had very different views of a future together. MacGyver wanted to travel, to explore the world, and to find himself. Without asking Amy first, he had signed them both up as part of the crew on a freighter traveling the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the Greek Islands, Sicily, and North Africa. Amy had wanted a life she could count on, and she intended to stay in Westport Beach and to use her science degree at the new nuclear processing plant that was being built there. Amy stayed, MacGyver moved on, their relationship ended, but their friendship remained, and although they had not seen each other in many years, they had kept in touch with the occasional Christmas card, and MacGyver had continued to send her one red rose every birthday.

Amy did find a job at the Westport Nuclear Processing Plant, where she worked with Tim and Kyle, and she eventually became the Director of Research there. One day, however, she discovered that someone had altered the records to cover up the theft, little by little over time, of 30 kilos of weapons-grade uranium, enough to build a nuclear bomb. She filed a report with her boss, Gerald Hillman, the General Manager of the facility, and the two of them searched the plant from top to bottom but were unable to find the missing uranium. Hillman took a copy of Amy's file, entitled "Audit Trail - Missing U-235," and left to catch a flight for Washington, but he was killed under suspicious circumstances when his car ran off the road and hit a bridge two miles outside of town. Amy realized that she, too, was being targeted, and in fear for her life she reached out to the friend she knew she could trust. She called MacGyver, and he took the next flight out to be with her.

MacGyver and Amy planned to meet by the ocean in Westport Beach, the spot that they used to call "our beach" when they were dating, but Amy was too scared, and she asked her roommate Bonnie to meet MacGyver instead. When Bonnie's car arrived at the beach, MacGyver was a witness as the car suddenly exploded and burst into flames. Everyone assumed that Amy had died in the explosion, and it wasn't until after MacGyver had attended her funeral that he discovered Amy hiding in the back seat of his car and learned that it was Bonnie who had been killed.

Together MacGyver and Amy returned to the Westport Nuclear Plant and recovered Amy's report, which she had hidden in the nuclear waste disposal chamber as a precaution. Once again, Amy was targeted, and they were trapped in the chamber until MacGyver short-circuited the electronic time clock to release the lock and allow them to escape before nuclear waste flooded the chamber. As they continued to search the plant together, they discovered the missing uranium which had been hidden in a concrete sign post, and they were at last confronted by the thieves. Ed Train, the Chief of Police, was behind the murders of Hillman and Bonnie, he had orchestrated the theft with the intention of selling the uranium for $50 million, and he had partnered with Tim Wexler as someone with access to the facility who knew how to handle high-grade uranium.

Although Tim tried to prevent any more killing, Train was determined to eliminate any witnesses, and as he fired his weapon in the control room, he wounded Tim and Kyle and shorted out the control panel, putting the plant in danger of a meltdown. As Tim and Kyle monitored the control panel, Amy joined MacGyver as they attempted to apprehend Train and to prevent a meltdown by climbing to the top of the facility and manually opening the blocked valve in the high pressure injection system to allow the coolant to enter the system.

As MacGyver and Amy said goodbye once more, they knew that their friendship would remain, because their friendship was how their relationship had begun.

Portrayed by: Tannis Montgomery

Cross Reference: Kyle, Angus MacGyver, Ed Train, Westport Beach, Westport Nuclear Processing Plant, Tim Wexler

Episode Reference: Flame's End