Victim identified in Saratoga County skull case
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GREENFIELD -- In the end, it all came down to the teeth.
Authorities on Thursday said dental records - along with some trademark cavity work - led them to the conclusion that remains discovered in rural Saratoga County earlier this week belonged to Jennifer M. Hammond, a Colorado resident who went missing in the area six years ago.
DNA tests that could confirm the woman's identity aren't likely to be produced for weeks, but police said there is a "high degree of confidence" that the remains, primarily skull fragments, are indeed Hammond's.
"Initially, we didn't think there was sufficient evidence to do the dental comparison, but we were fortunate that there was, in fact, enough there," Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy said in announcing the identity at a press conference held at his office Thursday.
Police said Hammond, originally from Littleton, Colo., was in the area during the summer of 2003 while working for the Atlantic Circulation company, which sells magazine subscriptions door-to-door.
Hammond, then 18 years old, was last seen at the Creek & Pines Trailer Park in Ballston Spa in August 2003, when she failed to make a scheduled pick-up with her employer.
A bus ticket she had purchased from Albany to Colorado was never claimed and her belongings were later found abandoned in an Albany hotel.
A missing persons report was not filed until November 2003, police said, noting that Hammond had previously abandoned the company only to return later.
No significant leads were ever developed, but Saratoga County Sheriff James Bowen said his department's investigation had remained ongoing, and that Hammond's parents had been contacted as recently as six months ago to see if she had turned up.
Bowen said he felt some satisfaction in knowing Hammond's family would now have a better idea of what happened to her.
"Everyone wants to know where their family members are, so if we can bring a little bit of closure, even if it's sad closure, we're satisfied," Bowen said.
The identification has compelled police to renew their investigation, and to treat the case as a homicide.
Police would not comment on possible motives, or if there were any local suspects being considered as part of a joint investigation by State Police and the Sheriff's Office.
"It's way too early to speculate on that," State Police Maj. William Sprague said.
Police also backed away from drawing any possible connections to other cases in the area, including that of Christiana White.
White, of Milton, was found stabbed to death in the Daketown State Forest in Greenfield in March 2006.
The site is just miles from the location, a wooded area off of Fox Hill Road in Greenfield, where Hammond's skeletal remains were located earlier this week by a hunter.
Murphy did say, however, that the identification will bring more resources to bear on the case, and that efforts would now be ramped up.
"Certainly, our search will broaden in scope," he said.
Posted in Local, Breaking on Thursday, October 29, 2009 2:20 pm Updated: 10:59 pm. | Tags:
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