By Ed Lewis [email protected]

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<p>Suzanne Estock speaks with the media while standing next to a picture of her sister, Joan Marie Dymond, who was reported missing in 1969 and identified in 2022. Ed Lewis | Times Leader</p>

Suzanne Estock speaks with the media while standing next to a picture of her sister, Joan Marie Dymond, who was reported missing in 1969 and identified in 2022. Ed Lewis | Times Leader
<p>Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce speaks with Suzanne Estock, sister of Joan Marie Dymond who was reported missing in 1969 and positively identified in 2022. Ed Lewis | Times Leader</p>

Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce speaks with Suzanne Estock, sister of Joan Marie Dymond who was reported missing in 1969 and positively identified in 2022. Ed Lewis | Times Leader
<p>The last known photograph of Joan Marie Dymond, taken in 1968 at her sister’s wedding. “We never stopped pursuing answers, and this investigation remains very active,” said Captain Patrick Dougherty, commanding officer of PSP Troop P. “After 53 years, the family of Joan Marie Dymond very much deserves closure. We will do everything in our power to see that they have it.”</p>

The last known photograph of Joan Marie Dymond, taken in 1968 at her sister’s wedding. “We never stopped pursuing answers, and this investigation remains very active,” said Captain Patrick Dougherty, commanding officer of PSP Troop P. “After 53 years, the family of Joan Marie Dymond very much deserves closure. We will do everything in our power to see that they have it.”
<p>A photograph of where the remains of the young woman, previously known only as Jane “Newport” Doe, were discovered Nov. 17, 2012, on the grounds of a former coal-mining operation in Newport Township by individuals digging for relics in a trash-filled depression in the ground. Examination determined the remains were those of a female, estimated to be in her mid-teens to early 20’s, who died of suspicious or “foul play” circumstances. Lab results indicated a high probability she died in the late 1960s. The Criminal Investigation Unit at PSP’s Shickshinny station submitted the victim’s DNA profile to national databases for comparison to other profiles on record with negative results. The remains were later submitted to Othram, Inc. in March 2022 to undergo genetic genealogy testing, which was funded by the Luzerne Foundation. Othram, Inc. provided troopers with possible family members of Jane “Newport” Doe, including the family of Joan Marie Dymond, who provided DNA samples. When those samples were compared to the DNA profile of the remains found in 2012, lab results received earlier this month indicated the remains of Jane “Newport” Doe are the remains of Joan Marie Dymond.</p>

A photograph of where the remains of the young woman, previously known only as Jane “Newport” Doe, were discovered Nov. 17, 2012, on the grounds of a former coal-mining operation in Newport Township by individuals digging for relics in a trash-filled depression in the ground. Examination determined the remains were those of a female, estimated to be in her mid-teens to early 20’s, who died of suspicious or “foul play” circumstances. Lab results indicated a high probability she died in the late 1960s. The Criminal Investigation Unit at PSP’s Shickshinny station submitted the victim’s DNA profile to national databases for comparison to other profiles on record with negative results. The remains were later submitted to Othram, Inc. in March 2022 to undergo genetic genealogy testing, which was funded by the Luzerne Foundation. Othram, Inc. provided troopers with possible family members of Jane “Newport” Doe, including the family of Joan Marie Dymond, who provided DNA samples. When those samples were compared to the DNA profile of the remains found in 2012, lab results received earlier this month indicated the remains of Jane “Newport” Doe are the remains of Joan Marie Dymond.

HANOVER TWP. — Joan Marie Dymond had just finished dinner telling her parents she was going to the Andover Street Park in Wilkes-Barre on June 25, 1969.

Dymond, 14, was never seen again.

Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce and state police Trooper Andrew Morgantini said the case is being investigated as a homicide as they suspect foul play was involved in her disappearance more than 53 years ago.

Sanguedolce and Morgantini were joined by David Pedri of the Luzerne Foundation in officially announcing human remains, notably a human skull, found along Alden Mountain Road in Newport Township in 2012 were those of Dymond.

“On Nov. 17, 2012, a woman who was digging through a trash filled depression in the ground came across the victim’s remains,” Morgantini said.

Morgantini said the scene was excavated in an attempt to find other human remains.

The remains were examined by forensic anthropologists and a forensic odontologist and sent for DNA testing at the University of Texas. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children assisted in the investigation providing leads into missing females while creating a facial reconstruction, Morgantini said.

Morgantini said in August 2021, the remains were sent for carbon dating at Beta Analytic Carbon Dating Service, a laboratory in Miami, Fla., to determine when death occurred. A month later, Morgantini said, results of the test revealed the girl died in the late 1960s, which allowed investigators to narrow missing girls to that time period.

The remains were then sent to Othram, Inc., in March 2022 to undergo genetic genealogy testing, which was funded by the Luzerne Foundation.

Othram provided investigators with possible family members that led them to Dymond’s family who provided DNA samples, Morgantini said.

Dymond’s older sister, Suzanne Estock, said she was pregnant when she last spoke with her sister.

“She was excited to becoming an aunt, coming to visit and maybe help me out. Then she just disappeared,” Estock said.

Estock said she is forever grateful for the state police not giving up.

“It didn’t reduce the sadness. I’m glad she was found,” Estock said.

Estock said her younger sister was a typical teenager describing her as a “sweet girl.”

“She didn’t deserve what happened to her,” Estock said.

Morgantini said investigators would welcome to interview anyone who knew Dymond and those who attended school with her at St. Boniface Parochial on Blackman Street, Wilkes-Barre, and those who attended and graduated from E.L. Meyers High School Class of 1973.

Anyone with information about Dymond’s disappearance is asked to call state police at Shickshinny at 570-542-4117.

“We never stopped pursuing answers, and this investigation remains very active,” stated state police Capt. Patrick Dougherty, commanding officer of Troop P. “After 53 years, the family of Joan Marie Dymond very much deserves closure. We will do everything in our power to see that they have it.”