Jill Stuchenko

Stuchenko had been missing for several weeks, and on Thursday police confirmed the fears of her loved ones - that the body they found this week on the forested fringes of a gravel pit near Moore’s Meadow was in fact hers.

Stuchenko had a criminal record, and those who knew her confirmed that she was indeed forced to sell her sexuality for drug money, which brought her into contact with the police. It also might have brought her into contact with a human predator, they speculated, but police would not yet disclose if the case was considered a homicide.

Stuchenko had a gift for song that went beyond just liking music and singing in the shower. She loved her kids. She was always thinking of her kids, and the good choices she made were for them.

“She was a wonderful, lovely lady. She had issues, but struggling in her life is no reason to end up dead,” said a social worker who knew her for years. “People see the news reports and make assumptions about how she lived, but she had people in her life, she had goals she wanted, and she loved here kids. Her children were always dear to her.”