The case of Amanda King whose remains were found at Burden Pond Preserve, Troy NY

Police announced Thursday that the human remains found near Burden Pond in Troy, NY on October 20th belong to 27 year old missing woman Amanda King from Bethlehem, NY. An unidentified woman discovered her skull while walking her cat in the South Troy preserve. Police also found ribs and other bones buried while spending the day excavating the area. The remains were originally thought to be missing 12 year old Jaliek Rainwalker, but he was quickly ruled out with dental records. Within the following month, the State Police forensic lab was able to extract DNA from the femur and roots of the teeth that were recovered from the remains which led to Kings identification. Due to the condition of the remains and possible exposure to animals and the elements, investigators have not been able to determine a cause of death.

Amanda King was last seen on October 16, 2013 leaving the Conifer Park treatment center in Glenville, NY where she was receiving treatment for a heroin addiction. It's believed she was picked up by an unidentified person after leaving just 10 days after checking in. Police tried to get video of who picked her up from Conifer Park, but the facility’s surveillance video had already been taped over since weeks had already past. She had no cellphone, car or credit card, leaving little opportunity to trace her movements.

Amanda grew up in Bethlehem, NY and attended Bethlehem Central High School which her father says is where she started experimenting with drugs. Her drug use eventually led to heroin which is the addiction she battled with until the day she disappeared. The years following high school, Amanda had been arrested a few times for drug possession and had gone through detox and rehabilitation programs, but was unable to get a handle on her addiction. She began hanging with a rough crowd and even turned to prostitution for money to buy heroin. Her father said she once traveled down to Virginia for sex work and was left stranded in a motel with no ride home. He bought her a plane ticket to fly home. She would always check in with him every few weeks usually either looking for money or a ride from somewhere. The last time her father seen her, she called him and had him pick her up at what he believed to be a crack house in Albany and drove her to Conifer Park for court-mandated treatment. After ten days, she decided she couldn't continue to go through with the treatment and left against the facilities recommendation. That was the last confirmed time she was seen before being picked up by the unknown individual. In the following month around early November, there were reported sightings of her around the Watervliet Avenue area of Albany where she was known to frequent a motel and sell sex, but police questioned the reliability of those sightings since they came from other heroin addicts in various states of intoxication. https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/skeleton-identified-troy-19934614.php https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/troy-police-probe-discovery-skull-burden-pond-19850718.php https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/5-years-later-What-happened-to-Amanda-King-13412257.php https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Missing-daughter-s-dad-Nowhere-to-hide-from-5913830.php

In my research, I discovered something very interesting. On September 19, 2017 another woman's body was found at the same location in Troy, NY in Burden Pond. At the time, city police spokesman Capt. Daniel DeWolf said patrols were dispatched to the pond about 3:30pm for a report of a body of an unidentified white woman found in the water. The police said that they didn't believe foul play was involved, but an autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause of death. I couldn't find any further updates on who the woman was or what the autopsy concluded. Assuming Amanda was buried there shortly after going missing in 2013, that would mean there were two bodies of dead women there at the same time. Detectives often say they don't believe in coincidences. Many have speculated that Amanda might have been killed by one of her Johns. I have to wonder if this woman was also a sex worker who might have been killed and dumped there by the same John who used that location as a dumping ground? Sex workers and drug addicts (which Amanda was both) are often overlooked and not investigated as seriously as a child or clean living missing adult would be. They are also in the most danger to meet foul play. Could this second woman have fallen in the same boat and simply brushed off? If anyone has info or an update on this second woman, please update. https://www.troyrecord.com/2017/09/20/body-pulled-from-burden-pond-police-say-foul-play-unlikely/ https://www.timesunion.com/allnews/article/Troy-police-say-woman-s-body-recovered-Tuesday-12214345.php

It's unclear if Amanda's body was buried in such a way that would suggest she was buried by someone, or just buried by the elements over time. The preserve is frequented by many visitors so it's hard to believe the later would be the case. The police also haven't officially announced that they believe she has met foul play to this point that I have found. Anyone with information about King is asked to contact Troy Police detectives at (518)270-4771.