Body of N.Y. Girl, 14, Missing for 3 Months Is Found in River: ‘The Wound in Our Hearts Will Never Fully Heal’
Police are investigating the death of a 14-year-old girl after her body was found in a river in New York State three months after her disappearance.
Samantha Humphrey was last seen on Nov. 25, 2022 at Riverside Park in the Stockade neighborhood of Schenectady when she did not return home after meeting up with her boyfriend, according to a GoFundMe page launched by her mother, Jaclyn Humphrey.
On Feb. 22, police recovered a body in the Mohawk River that was later confirmed to be Humprehy’s, a Schenectady Police Department press release states.
Not long after she was reported missing by her mother, the coat she was believed to be wearing was discovered in the river with what appeared to be blood on the hood, according to the GoFundMe page. Her body was found in the area by a fisherman three months later, WYNT reports.
Humphrey’s family released a statement to CBS 6 expressing their devastation.
“Normal is forever gone,” the statement reads, in part. “The pain and anguish we are feeling is compounded when the death comes at the hands of another human being and now we seek justice for our Samantha Valentine.”
“The wound in our hearts will never fully heal on this side of eternity,” the statement continues.
Humphrey was a ninth-grade student at Schenectady High School, according to The Daily Gazette.
Born in Metairie, La., Humphrey “lost a short but ferocious battle with evil itself, and passed into infinity,” her obituary says.
The Schenectady Police Department said it is awaiting autopsy results before releasing any additional information about the case.