Police in Hamilton, Ont. say they have concluded their investigation into the disappearance of Holly Ellsworth-Clark, who went missing on Jan. 11 in Central Hamilton.
In a release, investigators say the 27-year-old’s remains were identified on Thursday morning after a worker spotted a body floating in Hamilton Harbour at Pier 11.
The body had been in the water for a prolonged period of time, according to police, and was identified by forensic sciences teams.
Investigators do not believe Ellsworth-Clark’s death is suspicious in nature.
Family friend and volunteer search organizer Elle McFearsin said the news was delivered to the family by Calgary police in person on Thursday morning.
“Right now we’re just kind of taking it all in. I think the shock is a little more than we had all anticipated,” McFearsin told Global News.
“So our next steps will be to determine a celebration of life and go from there.”
“Thank you to everyone who has been involved in the search for our girl. We are heartbroken that this is how her story ends.” – Elle
Ellsworth-Clark went missing in January and was the subject of an intensive search by volunteers over several months across Southern Ontario.
Hamilton police say Ellsworth-Clark left her home in the area of Sanford Avenue and Cannon Street around 4:00 p.m. on Jan. 11.
The last known sighting of Holly was on security camera footage from around 4:50 p.m. north of Barton Street.
The footage, released by police on Jan. 31, showed a woman wearing black pants, black boots, and a black garbage bag over her upper body, walking northbound on Wentworth Street, approaching Shaw Street.
A budding musician, Ellsworth-Clark moved from Calgary to Toronto about a year and a half ago. A boyfriend and a band were the reason for her trek from Alberta to southern Ontario, according to father Dave Clark.
Ellsworth-Clark then made a move to Central Hamilton in October of 2019 to pursue another opportunity to join a group.
“She moved here, following a bandmate after a break-up of a band, and then they really hadn’t made any progress as far as starting up a new band,” Clark told Global News in late January.
“So she was just working on solo stuff and trying to get a solo album together. She had a bunch of songs that she was ready to record, and had plans made to put an album together.”
After spending some time in Toronto with siblings over the Christmas break, Holly went back to Hamilton and that’s when the family began to notice a change in her behaviour with a number of emotional phone calls.
Clark said the last time he heard from his daughter was in January, he said she called in a panic, afraid for her life.
“So the conversation we had — she was in quite a state, and panicked. So we weren’t sure if she was rational. But apparently, she was talking about this much earlier and in a rational state to other people,” Clark told Global News in June.
Friends and family organized a number of searches in Central Hamilton neighbourhoods in January and plastered pictures of Ellsworth-Clark on signposts across the city.
Clark believes the last time he saw his daughter alive was in another piece of security camera footage from Feb. 3, which showed a woman walking north of Barton Street East, near Wentworth Street North, on Shaw Street.
“Well, somebody who looks very much like her, has the same gait, the same height, the same haircut. So I would say the same boots that she was last seen wearing,” said Clark.
However, Hamilton police did not confirm the sighting saying that the footage was too dark and grainy to positively identify the person in the video.
Following a number of ground searches in January, and some unsubstantiated tips from the public, Clark’s family began expanding their quest across southern Ontario and specifically shelters where they could talk to people who effectively live on the street.
In May, the family returned to Hamilton in the hopes of ramping up the search by offering a reward and starting a new flyer campaign across the city.
But, Clark told Global News in June that were no new leads upon his return to Calgary.
“There were a number of leads but they’ve all come to nothing. There’s no real evidence that she’s been around here,” Clark said.
A candlelight vigil for Ellsworth-Clark will be held on Sept 26th in Woodlands Park, Hamilton.
The family will be arriving from Calgary for the event. Organizers are asking participants to bring a candle in the hopes of lighting up the park.
Anyone with information on the case can reach out to detectives at 905-546-3816.
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