The search for a missing teenager in Schenectady, New York, has come to a tragic end.

Samantha Humphrey‘s parents have been frantically searching for her for three months now. The 14-year-old was last seen on the night of November 25, around 11 p.m. According to her family in a GoFundMe, she had snuck out of the house “to meet her ex-boyfriend,” who was the last person known to have seen her alive. That was in Riverside Park — and as it turns out she didn’t get far…

On Wednesday a body was found in the water below an old railroad bridge in the same area. Police were called to Riverside Park after two fishermen called 911 to report seeing what appeared to be a human head bobbing just below the surface of the water. Cops found what turned out to be an intact body, which they recovered at about 4 p.m. on Wednesday. According to local outlet WNYT‘s sources, the corpse was crammed inside an old shopping cart and tied down, possibly in an attempt to keep it from being found under the water. It worked for a while. Both family members and police spent weeks searching that area to no avail. But there she was, just below the water.

Authorities confirmed on Thursday that an autopsy on the body had been completed. They were not prepared to confirm the identity until the full report — which is expected to be released on Monday — but did say the body had been there a long time. Everyone involved in the search for Samantha feared the worst… and their fears were well founded. Multiple sources told WNYT that she had been identified.

Her family unofficially confirmed it was Samantha, as well. One wrote the telling post on Facebook:

“When a s**t 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.”

Another spoke directly to WNYT, telling reporter Dan Levy she was “prepared for this day” after all this time. However, no one could have prepared for how she’d be found. The family member noted:

“Obviously she didn’t tie herself up in a shopping cart and sink herself. It is almost certainly a homicide.”

We imagine all eyes will turn back to the ex-boyfriend, having been the last to see her alive, and in the area where her body was found as well. But no one really knows anything yet. The search is over, but this homicide investigation is just getting started.

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