What Happened to Samantha Humphrey? Body Found Amid Search for NY Teenager
A body was found on Wednesday afternoon in upstate New York in the search for Samantha Humphrey, a 14-year-old girl who's been missing for three months.
Though authorities have not yet officially identified the body, Humphrey's family seems to believe that the body retrieved from along the Mohawk River near the Front Street pool in Schenectady, where the girl disappeared, is that of the missing teen.
According to reports, authorities were called to the scene where the body was found by two fishermen who saw something in the water on Wednesday afternoon.
The body was pulled out of the river on the same day, according to the Schenectady Police Department. It was reportedly tied to a shopping cart.
An autopsy has been conducted on the body, but the results won't be made public until Monday at the earliest, according to police. Humphrey's family members have posted messages on social media suggesting that the search for the 14-year-old is over.
"When a s*** day becomes an even more terrible day, but at least now there is closure of sorts. We've all dreaded this day and here it is," a family member wrote on Facebook.
Dan Levy, a reporter at WNYT, wrote on Twitter about talking to a family member who said she was expecting to find out that Samantha Humphrey had been killed.
"Family member of Samantha Humphrey tells me she 'was prepared for this day (when Sam would be found).' And acknowledges, 'Obviously she didn't tie herself up in a shopping cart and sink herself. It is almost certainly a homicide.'," Levy wrote on Twitter.
Stephanie Kegley, reportedly a friend of Humphrey's family, wrote a Facebook post on Wednesday night, saying that the body found in the river is that of Samantha Humphrey.
"This is SAMANTHA HUMPHREY. Her body was located today. Know her name, her face, her story. A 14-year-old child was taken violently from this earth. We will stand by the family as we get justice for Sam. Please give the family time. Please send prayers, good vibes, everything," she wrote.
Kegley added that the teen's family asked her to make the update. "They need to focus on grieving and holding onto one another," she said.
"The LE [law enforcement] and media will not report until the ME [medical examiner] signs off. We have built an amazing community around finding Sam and we can't thank all LE agencies and our community enough."
BREAKING NEWS - Schenectady Police say the autopsy on the body pulled from the Mohawk River Wednesday afternoon is completed and results will be available on Monday at the earliest. Multiple sources tell me the body IS Samantha Humphrey. pic.twitter.com/KSvHwI28cP
— Dan Levy (@dlevywnyt) February 23, 2023
A body was found today in the search for Samantha Humphrey who was last seen November 22, 2022. She was only 14 years old when she disappeared.
— Rose (@901Lulu) February 23, 2023
The remains were found in a shopping cart inside of the Mohawk River. This was definitely not an accident. pic.twitter.com/nWXCET4zQ2
Humphrey went missing on November 25 in the city in New York state. She had left her home at around 11 p.m. to meet with an ex-boyfriend at Riverside Park, the last person to have seen her alive—and the last person she reportedly called.
According to unnamed sources mentioned by WNYT, Humphrey and her ex-boyfriend had a tumultuous relationship and had gotten into a physical fight earlier on the same day that the teen disappeared.
Her mother, Jaclin Humphrey, told the New York television station that her daughter had told her family and her school counselors that ex-boyfriend was abusive.
State police divers were reportedly searching the river's waters on Thursday for any evidence.
