Skeletal remains of upstate New York woman missing for a decade found by police

The skeletal remains recovered last month in upstate New York were identified as Amanda King, a woman who vanished in Glenville in November 2013, according to police.

King, who would've turned 38 earlier this week, lived in Bethlehem. Authorities notified the deceased's family Wednesday. Law enforcement officials found King's buried skeleton Oct. 20 in Burden Pond Reserve in Troy. DNA testing debunked authorities' initial theory that the remains belonged to Jaliek Rainwalker, who vanished in Washington County in 2007 at 12-years-old.

The State Police forensic lab extracted DNA from the femur and roots of the teeth that were collected along with the skeleton.

The manner of which she died is unclear at this time, someone with knowledge of the investigation told the Times Union. It is likely that cops will have to rely on a tip to progress through the investigation as possible exposure to the elements has eroded the skeleton.

On Oct. 16, 2013, King reportedly left a treatment center in Glenville, Conifer Park, with another individual and was never seen again. The specifics of her disappearance are murky as authorities don't know who gave King a ride from the center and what their dynamic was.

Troy, Albany and State Police “are now actively investigating the circumstances surrounding Amanda’s disappearance, death and her remains being located in the area where they were discovered," Assistant Police Chief Steven Barker said. The investigation will essentially "start from scratch,” in terms determining how the deceased ended up buried in Troy by the pond, according to the law enforcement source.

King was 27 years old at the time of her last sighting, which was when she arrived to Conifer Park to undergo court-mandated treatment for her heroin use. The victim's father, Arthur, previously told the Times Union that his daughter began abusing the substance while she attended Bethlehem Central High School.

Arthur was immediately called after King signed out of treatment earlier, against staff recommendations and disappeared with the unnamed individual. The woman left without a trace as she had no cellphone, vehicle or credit card for authorities to ping. Surveillance video from that day was taped over by the time police requested in an attempt to identify the driver.

A year later, King's family were worried their loved one's case wasn't getting enough attention. That point was noted again on a Facebook page in her memory.

“You get a lot more attention and I guess concern when it’s a child, but when it’s a full-grown adult, let’s face it, it boils down to an adult making their own decisions,” Arthur King told the Times Union in 2014. “But I really think that Amanda, even though she was an adult, everything was out of her control. She was just going down a path she just couldn’t get off of.”