Staff photo / Ed Runyan Capt. Jason Simon of the Youngstown Police Department and Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown announce that bones found last month on the East Side are those of Amy N. Hambrick.

YOUNGSTOWN — After determining last week that the bones found on the East Side on Aug. 26 are those of Amy N. Hambrick, who went missing Nov. 11, 2017, police have new leads to follow in determining what happened to her.

Capt. Jason Simon, head of the detective division of the Youngstown Police Department, told reporters Tuesday that additional testing can now be done on the bones and other physical evidence that might yield information.

He declined to go into details but said “the work continues for our investigators now that we have sadly found Amy in this condition. There’s still as many questions to be answered now as before.”

Hambrick was 29 when she went missing and was the mother of a 10-year-old girl.

Simon said investigators will continue with the “ceaseless work they do to figure out how (Hambrick’s remains) got here in this condition.”

He said the cause and manner of Hambrick’s death are still undetermined, but a resident found the bones wrapped in “some sort of cloth material.” He said later, “At least one person knows what happened. We’re asking to speak to that individual because there’s a side of the story here.”

Asked whether the bones may have been on Thorn Hill for the length of time that Hambrick has been missing, Simon could say only that the bones “have been in the woods for some time. An exact period of time is challenging to determine.”

He said he doesn’t think anyone “can say scientifically” whether the remains were there since November 2017. “They were in the woods a substantial period of time.”

Asked if the area where the bones were found yielded physical evidence, Simon said he could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Simon called the determination that the bones are Hambrick’s a “somber outcome.” He asked that anyone with information call 330-746-CLUE or 330-746-8YPD and tell police.

A CHAPTER CLOSES

Several family members of Hambrick attended the news conference, but Simon said the family requests “privacy from the media, as they close this chapter of their lives together as a family.”

Mayor Jamael Tito Brown spoke briefly during the conference, saying he hopes identifying the remains “will provide closure to this family.”

A local resident discovered bones in a large piece of cloth off of Thorn Hill Road on the city’s East Side Aug. 26 while looking for a missing dog. She took the remains back to her home, where Youngstown police determined they appeared to be human, Simon said. That is when a that a team of investigators from the police department and the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office began an investigation.

“The decision was made not to further disturb those findings at that time,” Simon said of the bones. After a search of the wooded area where the bones were discovered, they were transported back to thecoroner’s office for identification and testing over the next few days, Simon said.

Investigators attended a “detailed examination and reconstruction of the discovered bones,” led by Lauren Lease, chairperson of Youngstown State University’s anthropology department, Simon said. He cannot discuss what the investigation showed because of the ongoing nature of the investigation into Hambrick’s death, he added.

The initial phase of the investigation showed that the bones were that of a human female, Simon said.

Theresa Gaetano, coroner’s investigator, said when investigators learned that information, Hambrick’s missing persons case came to mind right away. Her family has been asking for the public’s help in finding her for years.

Hambrick’s dental records were compared to the teeth from the recovered skull, and they were a match.

Doctors Eric and Robert Johnson of Boardman, who are forensic dentists, determined that the skeletal remains were those of Hambrick.

LENGTHY SEARCH

Simon said several detectives, including David Sweeney and Ronald Barber, and other law enforcement officials have been working with the family since shortly after Hambrick went missing to try to locate her, Simon said.

“Every investigative avenue was utilized over the past five years, countless numerous interviews, searches of residences, the use of cadaver dogs” the search of digital and cell records, Simon said.

The family has used various social media sites since her disappearance to bring attention to Hambrick’s case, including a Facebook page showing pictures of her and listing her as being 4 foot-11 and 95 pounds with brown hair and eyes.

Simon said the police department continued to check information that frequently came in to the department about Hambrick’s case.

He said he wanted to reassure the families of other missing persons “that their loved one’s disappearance and investigation also continues. These cases are always challenging, but they are never forgotten. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of a missing person is encouraged to contact the police department or contact Crime Stoppers,” he said.

erunyan@vindy.com