Mother of 3 Amber Owens laid to rest

KEY POINTS

• Montgomery County road crew workers discovered decomposing remains on Post Town Road, Dec. 4
• The county coroner's office confirms the remains are those of Amber Owens, reported missing Oct. 24
• Her family members say they have no doubt someone harmed her
• The sheriff's office is now investigating the death as a homicide
• Amber Owens' funeral was held Dec. 12

Update @6:50 p.m.:

As some 300 people streamed into the Ethan Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church to say goodbye to Amber Owens on Friday, officials announced that they have a person of interest in death.

Among those attending the funeral was Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer, who said he’s been friends with the Owens’ family for years, and said they are “like family” to him. He’s taken a personal interest in his agency’s investigation into the death, which is considered a homicide.

“Any homicide case is serious and we throw every resource we have at it, but this is personal,” he said. “Amber was a nice young lady who has three babies. This is a tragedy and (her family) would like some closure.”

The mother of three went missing Oct. 21 and her body was found by road crews in some brush near Post Town Road in Trotwood on Dec. 4.

Detectives do have “a person of interest we’ve been looking at for awhile,” Plummer said. The agency has also submitted several pieces of evidence to a crime lab for analysis. But he said he still needs the public’s help with information.

“It’s tough when people don’t talk. Somebody heard something. Anybody who’s heard anything, even rumors, call us so we can follow leads,” Plummer said.

Owens’ husband, Dominique Mays, sat at the front of the church located at 4000 Shiloh Springs Road during the funeral service. The couple’s son sat on his lap and he wiped tears from his face. Owens’ family asked Mays not to attend the service, But he showed up and was not asked to leave once seated in the sanctuary. Mays and Owens’ family said he had a volatile relationship with his wife. The two have a history of domestic violence and were not living together at the time of her death.

Bette Roebuck, Owens’ grandmother, said there was a note of finality to the funeral, but that doesn’t mean the family will stop searching for answers about what happened to her. Owens’ cousin, D’Juana Redmon, said she hopes information about what happened to the young mother will help heal the pain of her loss.

“There were weeks where we went without knowing where Amber was or what happened to Amber and to be at least able to say our final goodbyes, I think that will help with the healing process,” she said.

Owens did not have life insurance and a fund, the Amber Owens May Family Trust, has been set up in her name to defray funeral costs and provide scholarships for her daughter and two sons, family said.

Check, cash, debit or credit card contributions can be deposited at any JP Morgan Chase Bank branch, the family said.

UPDATE: 1:30 p.m. (Dec. 12): Dominique Mays, husband of Amber Owens, cried in the front of the church, one of his children on his lap, during his wife's funeral.

He was asked not to attend the funeral by Owens’ family. However, he called Trotwood police this morning and indicated he wanted to attend the funeral, according to the sheriff’s office. Detectives and the sheriff are at the funeral, and said they will stand by to ensure there is no trouble.

UPDATE: 10:55 a.m. (Dec. 12): The funeral for Amber Owens is being held today in Clayton.

UPDATE: 1:30 p.m. (Dec. 8): In an exclusive interview Monday morning, the estranged husband of Amber Owens admitted that the couple had a volatile relationship, including a history of domestic violence.

However, Dominique Mays said, he does not know what led to her disappearance a month ago and subsequently her death. The remains of the 23-year-old Harrison Twp. mother of three were discovered in Trotwood on Dec. 4.

The sheriff’s office is investigating her death as a homicide, Maj. Daryl Wilson said, but have not named a suspect.

Owens’ funeral has been scheduled for Friday at Ethan Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church, 4000 Shiloh Springs Road, in Clayton. Visitation is at 10 a.m. Visitation is noon to 1 p.m., followed by the funeral.

UPDATE @ 7:30 p.m.: Amber Owens's family members said they have no doubt someone harmed her.

Owens never reported to her job at Waffle House on Oct. 21. Three days later, her family filed a missing person’s report. Alicia Owens was the last person known to have seen Amber, her twin. Alicia said they went to a party on Genesee Avenue in Dayton and that’s the last time she saw the sibling she said would never abandon her children.

“She went missing Tuesday and when I woke up Wednesday morning I just felt every nerve in me going off,” Alicia said. “I knew something happened to my sister. I just didn’t know what.”

On Nov. 4, Owens’ vehicle was found on Arlene Avenue in Dayton. Fingerprints led to the identification of the decomposed remains.

Montgomery County sheriff’s detectives initially said the disappearance was suspicious but have not indicated that the death is being investigated as a homicide.

Family members said they suspect foul play and indicated Owens was involved in volatile relationships. They said they hope someone will come forward with information that could help detectives.

UPDATE @ 3:30 p.m.: The results of a preliminary autopsy to determine the manner in which Amber Owens died was inconclusive, according to the Montgomery County Coroner's office. Officials noted that complete results are expected in about six weeks.

“There is a numbness, there is a ‘what am I going to do now?’ kind of feeling,” Owens’ grandmother Bette Roebuck said Friday afternoon. “We know that we will never see her again, but we have memories. … These things we don’t forget. We miss her from Day 1, but knowing that she’s not coming back, that’s hard …”

UPDATE @ 10:45 a.m. (Dec. 5): The coroner's office confirms the body found yesterday has been identified as Amber Owens. A preliminary cause of death has not been released yet.

UPDATE @ 6:45 p.m. (Dec. 4): A public works employee discovered a woman's body this afternoon.

Trotwood police and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office were called around 1:30 p.m. to the area of Post Town and Shank roads. The worker was performing road inspection and maintenance when the body was found, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

The body is believed to be an African-American woman and may be connected to a missing persons case, the sheriff’s office said. The woman’s age and identity has not yet been determined and her death remains under investigation by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office and detectives, according to the sheriff’s office.

FIRST REPORT

Authorities are on the scene of a death investigation in Trotwood after a body was found.

The decomposed body was reportedly discovered sometime before 2 p.m. on Post Town Road in Trotwood.

A representative with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said the body appears to be a female.

This story will be updated as additional information becomes available.