Investigators believe human remains found Saturday in Wilkes-Barre are related to the case of a missing city girl but can't explain the connection yet, Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said Tuesday.
La'Niyah Clark, 15, was last seen in the city on Jan. 17 according to Wilkes-Barre police. She was wearing two hearing aids, police said.
The DA and other officials briefed the media Tuesday afternoon near an apartment building on New Alexander Street that is a focus of the probe.
Sanguedolce said that at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Wilkes-Barre police, Luzerne County and Wilkes-Barre city detectives responded to reports of human remains on Thayer Street. They found a female face down and naked in the snow.
A stand of trees in that area, about a half mile from the apartment building, was still taped off Tuesday afternoon.
Investigators were able to trace the remains "as coming back to an address in an apartment on New Alexander Street," Sanguedolce said.
"As a result of that, our detectives and Wilkes-Barre's detectives obtained a search warrant this morning. Because of that search warrant, that's what we are all doing here today,” Sanguedolce said.
"We had an autopsy this morning, no affirmative cause (or) manner of death has yet been ruled. We're hopeful that we will be able to get information that we can provide to the public in the future. At this point, the search continues, and we have quite a bit left to go in this investigation,” Sanguedolce said.
“The remains have not 100% been fully identified, but the parties at this address have been related back to La’Niyah Clark," Sanguedolce said.
Law enforcement searched the apartment building’s lower left unit for three or four hours Tuesday afternoon, he added. Investigators, including some in hazmat suits, could be seen around the building, with state and city police, Luzerne County detectives and the DA's Office present.
Sanguedolce said Clark did not live at the address being searched. Many people from the apartment building are being questioned, he said, but declined to say whether anyone who lived there was a suspect.
“We are also going to attempt to locate people that are associated with this residence and attempt to ascertain information related to the goings on here over the past week or so,” Sanguedolce said.
“Anybody in the public that has any information either about the people at New Alexander street or the garage on Thayer Street, they are welcome to call Wilkes-Barre city detectives. In fact, we encourage them to do so,” he said.
Anyone with information about the case can contact Wilkes-Barre Police Det. James Conmy at 570-208-6775 or call 911.
The DA said the general public is not in danger.
“No, we don't believe that we have someone running around committing any violent acts as a result of anything involved in this investigation,” Sanguedolce said.
