Nica Pleasure
Three years after 14-year-old Samantha Humphrey disappeared in upstate New York, her ex-boyfriend, who was additionally 14 on the time, is being charged along with her homicide. The boy, now 17, whose title has not been launched on account of his age, pleaded not responsible. As he awaits trial, Samantha’s father, Jeff Humphrey, and aunt, Nica Pleasure, completely inform In Contact what they need the world to know in regards to the late teen.
“[She was] so sensible. She taught herself to learn when she was 3. She was extremely gifted in math, and one in every of her grandmothers informed me that she had hoped that Sam would work at NASA someday, however Sam was very inquisitive about forensic science, and that was the trail that she had deliberate to comply with,” Pleasure tells In Contact Investigates’ Kristin Thorne. “She was so humorous. I imply, she may, she may simply discover humor anyplace. And he or she simply all the time had this manner of constructing you snigger, even while you had been down or unhappy.”
Pleasure additionally says that Samantha was an “extremely empathetic little one” and a “nice child.”
“She was the middle of our household,” she provides.
In the meantime, Jeff says that the “issues that made Sam particular had been additionally her downfall.”
“She was fearless,” he continues. “She believed that she had a spot on the earth. She believed that she may make issues occur, that she may make good issues occur, for God is aware of what cause, she believed in love.”
Jeff provides that Samantha “discovered good in” her ex-boyfriend “and was not appropriately afraid of” him.
Samantha disappeared in Schenectady, New York, in November 2022, after she was final seen at a neighborhood park. Three months later, her physique was present in a neighborhood river near the place she had gone lacking. Her on-off boyfriend has been accused of strangling her to dying within the midst of a heated argument. In keeping with the district legal professional, it’s believed that Samantha could have thought she was pregnant and informed the boy, who didn’t need the child. The boy was arrested and charged with second-degree homicide in Could.
Kristin Thorne
In Contact reached out to the boy’s legal professional, who declined to remark.
Jeff says that he solely noticed his daughter’s ex as soon as “about three or for weeks earlier than she died.” Previous to that, he hadn’t seen him in “a few yr.”
“It is a one who I went by each avenue I may to guard my daughter from, and failed, however no matter relationship Sam had with him after that, clearly she saved from me as a result of she knew that my response could be maximal,” he says.
When police started looking the river for Samantha, Pleasure says they “made it clear pretty early on” that she was deceased.
“That they had eight businesses within the water looking for her, and so they weren’t trying anyplace else,” she says. “That they had drones, divers, canines. That they had Pink Cross Search and Restoration. They even lowered the water stage to make it simpler to search out her.”
Jeff provides, “When the police started to look the river, it grew to become fairly clear they knew issues we didn’t know, and that the state of affairs was fairly determined.”
Jeff concludes that he can’t give sufficient due to the individuals who “helped us with our publicity marketing campaign, who helped with the billboards, who helped with the legislation and science, to assist construct the reward, to assist unfold consciousness.”
“So anyone listening who supported Samantha along with your time, along with your cash, along with your entrance garden, along with your eyeballs, we thanks and we love you for supporting Sam and supporting us,” he says.
In the meantime, Pleasure says, “Though Sam is deceased and he or she was taken from us, she’s nonetheless right here with us. She’s nonetheless very a lot part of our household. You realize, after we get collectively, I imply, her title comes up continuously, and in some ways, it’s like she’s nonetheless proper right here with us. Her reminiscence continues to be very a lot alive with us.”
