Nancy Jo Scamurra
/ Courtesy National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
AMHERST -- The Amherst Police Department and the Oswego County Sheriff's Office have identified a human torso that was found floating in Lake Ontario back in July of 1984.
The remains of 14-year-old Nancy Jo Scamurra were found by a fisherman off the coast of Oswego County 28 years ago.
Oswego County Undersheriff Gene Sullivan pointed out that when the torso was originally found, the missing girl was a center of publicity; however, officials could not make a connection because technology did not exist at the time. At the time, the Onondaga County Medical Examiner's Office could only say that the torso belonged to a white female about 5-6 feet tall and under the age of 40.
Sullivan says the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office contacted Oswego County Sheriff last year and specifically asked that they retrieve DNA from family members and relatives of the girl.
Within the last two months, officials were able to determine that DNA from the remains did in fact match that of Scamurra.
Scamurra went missing on July 1, 1984 when she was 14, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
This girl was "dismembered, decapitated, and disposed of," says Sullivan.
Sullivan says that detectives from O.C. have been interviewing numerous individuals Amherst in what is now considered a homicide case.
Oswego County has set up an email for people to contact police with information: HelpNancy@Oswegocounty.com." The have also set up a Facebook page.
"We know there are people out there with information," says Sullivan.
