1969 missing Wilkes-Barre girl positively identified; Case being investigated as a homicide
Oct. 4—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."
